Bill Gates

Certainly at the time. So complete commercial failure. The ecosystem of Windows 8 apps did not really galvanize. And where we're left is the state of the Windows app developer ecosystem in the 2013-14 time period is right back where we started. No one's terribly interested in targeting that as a developer platform. All the energy is actually just going to go into the web app.

Certainly at the time. So complete commercial failure. The ecosystem of Windows 8 apps did not really galvanize. And where we're left is the state of the Windows app developer ecosystem in the 2013-14 time period is right back where we started. No one's terribly interested in targeting that as a developer platform. All the energy is actually just going to go into the web app.

Yep.

Yep.

No doubt. Undeniably. Zune failed. Bing, small market share. Windows Phone lost to Android.

No doubt. Undeniably. Zune failed. Bing, small market share. Windows Phone lost to Android.

This is dark. This 2012, 13 time period, this is dark. And at the same time... Well, it's funny. It's dark. And revenues and profits have grown tremendously. The enterprise motion of Microsoft has basically never had a down year. I mean, 2008 in the Great Recession. But other than that, like, chug, chug, chug, chug, chug, even through the bad Windows releases.

This is dark. This 2012, 13 time period, this is dark. And at the same time... Well, it's funny. It's dark. And revenues and profits have grown tremendously. The enterprise motion of Microsoft has basically never had a down year. I mean, 2008 in the Great Recession. But other than that, like, chug, chug, chug, chug, chug, even through the bad Windows releases.

Yes, absolutely. As the general public is concerned, Steve Ballmer was obsessed with Windows. He built the enterprise business. He left. Satya Nadella came in and launched Azure, and Azure has been great. Not exactly. That's not really what happened.

Yes, absolutely. As the general public is concerned, Steve Ballmer was obsessed with Windows. He built the enterprise business. He left. Satya Nadella came in and launched Azure, and Azure has been great. Not exactly. That's not really what happened.

And realistically, you can't replace Bill Gates with one person. So we need two bills.

And realistically, you can't replace Bill Gates with one person. So we need two bills.

This is so fascinating. I never put 2 and 2 together, but Lotus 1, 2, 3 and Lotus Notes were not like peers together. Lotus 1, 2, 3 was developed by Lotus. Lotus Notes is actually Ray's company. It's almost like the way a game studio works. Ray and his company are building it. Their publisher is Lotus, but... Ray can have agreements with Microsoft where he's privy to information that Lotus is not.

This is so fascinating. I never put 2 and 2 together, but Lotus 1, 2, 3 and Lotus Notes were not like peers together. Lotus 1, 2, 3 was developed by Lotus. Lotus Notes is actually Ray's company. It's almost like the way a game studio works. Ray and his company are building it. Their publisher is Lotus, but... Ray can have agreements with Microsoft where he's privy to information that Lotus is not.

And so Ray's like really close in the fold with the Microsoft folks. I think he was even a contractor working on, maybe the project was Landman, but he was actively contributing to other Microsoft products.

And so Ray's like really close in the fold with the Microsoft folks. I think he was even a contractor working on, maybe the project was Landman, but he was actively contributing to other Microsoft products.

Yeah, he was almost like Switzerland in the middle.

Yeah, he was almost like Switzerland in the middle.

And essentially what's going on is Bill and Steve kind of look at Ray and they say, you figure out the vision. We've got all these assets. We've got a killer business. Got all this great talent. In the coming world, the next generation of technology, why don't you figure out how Microsoft fits in and what our play is?

And essentially what's going on is Bill and Steve kind of look at Ray and they say, you figure out the vision. We've got all these assets. We've got a killer business. Got all this great talent. In the coming world, the next generation of technology, why don't you figure out how Microsoft fits in and what our play is?