8 April 2007
Startups Would Actually Make Money If They Feared Microsoft
Paul Graham had an interesting and in some people’s opinions, arrogant post that declared Microsoft dead. It definitely is taking over Techmeme. The real focus comes in on the fact that Microsoft isn’t a feared giant anymore… that it’s Google. Well, in my opinion I think the fact that people are fearing Google more than Microsoft is why we’re seeing paltry exits, companies that are just simply features, and a real lack of innovation. I’m going to address a few points that Paul makes along, with a few of my own:
- Fearing Microsoft Causes Startups To Actually Make Revenue- Microsoft does not pull any of this advertising model only garbage. Microsoft made itself a monster by being able to sell licenses of its software such as Windows and Office. They made a company based around products that sell, not products that need to get a bunch of pageviews. By fearing Google we see companies building products that are great, but do not focus on revenue. Remember, pageviews DO NOT equal revenue. If companies feared Microsoft, they would build products that were able to bring in real revenue streams- subscriptions, licenses, etc.
- Google and Microsoft Do Not Need Your Shitty Web 2.0 Company- Sorry folks, Microsoft and Google don’t need your calendar, social news site, or mapping application. None of these applications are innovative or real revenue generators. What MSFT really needs are startups that are innovative as silly little Web 2.0 companies, but can produce real revenues in an equally innovative manner. You’re going into a company that is on track to generate 50 billion dollars in revenue this year… they want you to be in sync with that. Cash, not pageviews is King.
- Placing Them All In The Silicon Valley Fortress of Solitude is Retarded- Most of Microsoft’s customers don’t know what Tech Crunch, Twitter, or Tag Clouds are. Generally they don’t care. Microsoft serves a general audience, not the everyday digerati. Now, if MSFT acquired some of the few good Web 2.0 companies, integrated their development process culture, and tailored it to the mainstream they’d do very well. Keep away from the Kool Aid folks, it does not make you any money.
- Desktop Apps Aren’t Dead, They’re Going To Come Back Better Than Ever- Ryan Stewart is right in his post. Desktop apps aren’t dead due to Apollo and WPF. Now we can have the interaction and richness of Web apps on the desktop. Do you think MSFT is really that dumb, that they don’t know where things are going?
I have a feeling I’ll be updating this post over the next couple of days as more thoughts come in. My final thought: Fear Microsoft and Build Your Company to Battle Them, Not Google, and You’ll Actually Make Money. Please comment and argue with me on this, it’s a great debate.
Technorati Tags: msft, paul graham, y combinator, techmeme, don dodge, ryan stewart, publictivity, web 2.0, google, goog, microsoft, microsoft is dead, pageviews, meme
