Steve Ballmer

Eight years. No, we'd been working on the cloud since Energizer. We'd been working on Azure for eight years. People think everything in tech gets popular in 10 minutes. It's kind of- People think Acquired was founded two years ago. Good point. Different scale. When was OpenAI actually founded?

Eight years. No, we'd been working on the cloud since Energizer. We'd been working on Azure for eight years. People think everything in tech gets popular in 10 minutes. It's kind of- People think Acquired was founded two years ago. Good point. Different scale. When was OpenAI actually founded?

Okay. So seven or eight years after, it really became something. Okay, fair to say. And I give them all the credit in the world, seven or eight years. Most things take a while. Even things that are, quote, oh, they just burst on the scene. People have been sweating, you know, blood, sweat, and tears for years before these things get liftoff, as I call it, my little deck here.

Okay. So seven or eight years after, it really became something. Okay, fair to say. And I give them all the credit in the world, seven or eight years. Most things take a while. Even things that are, quote, oh, they just burst on the scene. People have been sweating, you know, blood, sweat, and tears for years before these things get liftoff, as I call it, my little deck here.

And so, yeah, we were starting to get to liftoff. But, yeah, eight years. And we had more in on exchange. Most businesses are zero-trick ponies. You never create a billion-dollar business. You never create – you might create something that goes nowhere. You might create what's essentially a feature for somebody else's business and get acquired. You might. I'll call that zero tricks.

And so, yeah, we were starting to get to liftoff. But, yeah, eight years. And we had more in on exchange. Most businesses are zero-trick ponies. You never create a billion-dollar business. You never create – you might create something that goes nowhere. You might create what's essentially a feature for somebody else's business and get acquired. You might. I'll call that zero tricks.

Then you get a one-trick pony. And one-trick ponies are – Amazing. Amazing. I mean, people should be in awe of one-trick ponies.

Then you get a one-trick pony. And one-trick ponies are – Amazing. Amazing. I mean, people should be in awe of one-trick ponies.

Or it could be, no, it could be more.

Or it could be, no, it could be more.

It could be more. There are not many one-trick ponies. I might argue that Google is a one to one and a half trick pony. Still. I mean, if you just look at its revenue. It's 80% search ad revenue, something like that.

It could be more. There are not many one-trick ponies. I might argue that Google is a one to one and a half trick pony. Still. I mean, if you just look at its revenue. It's 80% search ad revenue, something like that.

You either call YouTube half a trick, or you can call it a second trick. But it's not clearly a second trick. And they're huge, and they have great market cap. TSMC, you did an episode on them. They're a one-trick pony, very successful one-trick pony. NVIDIA. Is a one-trick pony.

You either call YouTube half a trick, or you can call it a second trick. But it's not clearly a second trick. And they're huge, and they have great market cap. TSMC, you did an episode on them. They're a one-trick pony, very successful one-trick pony. NVIDIA. Is a one-trick pony.

First trick was not that big. Yeah. You can decide whether to call it a trick or not. But I'm not taking anything away from NVIDIA, and I should know the company better. But... So you say, one-trick ponies, they're amazing. Like, everybody should be in awe of a one-trick pony. Now... Two-trick ponies... Ooh la la. Those people tend to go down in business history.

First trick was not that big. Yeah. You can decide whether to call it a trick or not. But I'm not taking anything away from NVIDIA, and I should know the company better. But... So you say, one-trick ponies, they're amazing. Like, everybody should be in awe of a one-trick pony. Now... Two-trick ponies... Ooh la la. Those people tend to go down in business history.

Especially if those tricks stay alive for a long time. IBM was a one-trick pony. Microsoft, two to two and a half tricks.

Especially if those tricks stay alive for a long time. IBM was a one-trick pony. Microsoft, two to two and a half tricks.

Give us your trick accounting. Okay. You can do it a little differently. I'm going to call the desktop business, which I include Windows and Office. and the server slash enterprise business, back office, two tricks. Now, both tricks could have died if they didn't get moved to the cloud, and I knew they could die.

Give us your trick accounting. Okay. You can do it a little differently. I'm going to call the desktop business, which I include Windows and Office. and the server slash enterprise business, back office, two tricks. Now, both tricks could have died if they didn't get moved to the cloud, and I knew they could die.