Fred, at A VC, says: “Microsoft is the poster child for a “they” company.” If there’s something that gets me mad it’s when I hear this.
Becoming a “we” company is very important. It means we’re not perceived to be looking for a win/win. That doesn’t match my perception inside Microsoft. We want to empower our customers to win and win massively. I keep thinking back to Paramount Farms. They’ve used technology to become the number one pistachio processor in the United States and probably the world. Hint: they won massively by using technology.
If we take an “us only” approach then more and more companies and people will take their business elsewhere to companies that have a more inclusive set of offerings.
I heard that over and over last week. I look at Flickr. Why did they win? Because they got along with Technorati and Del.icio.us to build tags which made putting photos on the Flickr system more useful.
There’s a big hint there for Microsoft: start getting along with others or others will route around you and build their own systems.
Lots of work ahead. Luckily we have something going for us: more than 1,500 bloggers. Now you can at least talk to us efficiently. Now it’s time to turn what we’re hearing into new kinds of products and services: ones that everyone can participate in.
Link: Apple Becomes a “They” Company
Robert Scoble is the founder of the Scobleizer blog. He works as PodTech.net’s Vice President of Media Development.
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