“I love the fact that Satya Nadella's checked the checkbox for cross-platform for a number of our services. I still think it's very important to do the right kind of innovative integration across Windows and our hardware platforms with our cloud services. I think the company's doing a lot of good stuff. Real competition in AWS. Real competition in terms of the clients, particularly from a hardware perspective, there's also [competition] from Chrome. But all in all pretty good.” ThinkingKindStillsImportantRealFactsStuffTermNumbersCompanyPerspectiveCrossesWindowCompetitionCloudsPlatformsClientsIntegrationInnovativeHardwareChromeSatya Author:Steve Ballmer
“As a shareholder I have expressed my frustration with not getting more information about revenue and margins from the cloud.” InformationCloudsFrustrationRevenueMarginsShareholders Author:Steve Ballmer
“The company [Microsoft] really has to chart a direction in mobile devices. Because if you're going to be mobile-first, cloud-first you really do need to have a sense of what you're doing in mobile devices. I had put the company on a path. The board as I was leaving took the company on a path by buying Nokia, they kind of went ahead with that after I told them I was going to go. The company, between me and the board, had taken that sort of view. Satya, he's certainly changed that. He needs to have a clear path forward. But I'm sure he'll get there.” IfsNeedsFirstsKindViewsCompanyPathTakenClearChangedLeavingCloudsBoardsBuyingDevicesMobileMicrosoftNokiaSatya Author:Steve Ballmer
“If you look at companies with upside potential, Twitter's right there. They've established a brand in a world where it's extremely difficult to establish a brand. It's a global brand, people recognize it, people want to let you know what their Twitter handles are, etc.” PeopleIfsKnowsWorldWantLooksDifficultCompanyHandleBrandsEtc Author:Steve Ballmer
“I think there are lots of opportunities to improve the product. When you read the press, people say, "Oh, the product needs improvement." I look at that and say, "Hey, that's an exciting thing to get behind!" Because they can improve that product. That leaves more upside from an innovation and revenue potential than you're gonna find in a lot of places. So you could say that's a downside, I see that as an opportunity.” PeopleThinkingNeedsLooksOpportunityBehindsProductsExcitingInnovationPressesImprovementHeyRevenueExciting Things Author:Steve Ballmer
“In general, I'm pretty busy with the other things I charted ... I bought a piece of a sports-tech company. We do a lot of work with at the Clippers. I think that'll be great. We're really looking at the possibility of extending and building a real over-the-top distribution channel with value-added services for the Clippers, that could lead to other partnerships and investments. But most of the stuff I'm looking at isn't because I say, "Hey, I want to invest." It sort of comes around from the work we're doing with the Clippers.” ThinkingWantRealValuesStuffSportsCompanyPiecesPossibilityBuildingInvestmentBusyHeyPartnershipDistributionExtendingOver The Top Author:Steve Ballmer
“The company I invested in is probably a leader in that area. They're a company called Second Spectrum, which happens to be based in LA but was started by two USC computer-science professors. It's filled with guys who love sports, who played sports, but really look like programmers.” LooksTwoHappensGuySportsCompanyLeaderComputerAreasFilledProfessorsSpectrumProgrammersComputer ScienceUsc Author:Steve Ballmer
“Every NBA arena has six cameras in the ceiling. The question is what does the software do with video feeds? How to surface that in a set of analytics? There are some "playbooks," but in most sports these days what you really want to share out with coaches and players is a set of video that lets you visualize what's going on and what's the best way to do things.” WayWantDoeSportsPlayerShareSixCamerasSurfaceCoachesBest WayVideoThese DaysNbaSoftwareArenaCeilingsAnalyticsCoaches And PlayersPlaybooks Author:Steve Ballmer
“There's a huge crowd out there that basically will go nuts recommending to every coach on the planet, "Hey, coach, I've been playing with the analytics. I think you should do X, Y, and Z."” ThinkingShouldPlanetsHugeCrowdsCoachesHeyNutsAnalytics Author:Steve Ballmer
“Analytics only goes so far. Basketball, more than baseball, for example, is really a team sport.” SportsTeamExampleBasketballBaseballAnalyticsSports Team Author:Steve Ballmer