Microsoft CEO Interview: Steve Ballmer On 'Starting From Scratch,' 'Moving The Needle' (VIDEO)

techcrunch.com:

Microsoft generates around $20 billion a year in pre-tax profit, and spends nearly $10 billion on research and development. When Microsoft thinks about increasing (or sustaining) those profits, they have to think big. And they have to think long term.

Ballmer says he thinks about new business opportunities in three buckets: expanding current businesses (short run), building things from scratch (long run), and big aquisitions (short cuts).

WATCH:

Read the whole story: techcrunch.com

Comments

[Ozarks]

"Microsoft generates around $20 billion a year in pre-tax profit, and spends nearly $10 billion on research and development". Gee makes it sound like they only make a measly $10 billion. But, when you do taxes, $10 billion in purported "research and development" expenses, it does help the post taxes profit.

[Christina Lane]

"Ballmer says he thinks about new business opportunities in three buckets: expanding current businesses (short run), building things from scratch (long run), and big aquisitions (short cuts)."

So tell me— these things we build from "scratch"— they wouldn't happen to be from chicken scratch, would they?

And I know all about Microsoft's R&D budget— I just got a letter from Ballmer asking me to cough up more of my intellectual property for free on a web portal. 5 years of "free ideas" aren't enough for this man. They pay ZERO dollars for the most productive ideas…

(Couldn't help noticing the term "acquisitions" was missing a "c" in this article.)

[ssg13565]

The trouble that all tech companies face is that their own R & D budgets usually cannot match the R & D budgets of all other researchers combined (Maybe in Microsoft's case they can).

With research, you never know where the next big breakthrough will be. With lots of different researchers in the world, the majority won't come up with anything earth shaking. A small number will come up with stuff that changes the world. Nobody really knows which researchers will fall into which bucket. The ones at Microsoft might be among the lucky few or they may not.

So what is a major company to do to invest its fraction of the world's total research budget? The chances that their research will pay off big time are not that great. Yet, if they do no research they won't be in any position to take advantage of the next big breakthrough.

It's not easy being big unless you want to use predatory practices to crush the next guy with a good idea. Microsoft would never do that, would they?

[deepfreezevideo]

I don't know if this can be termed a big money move but it would certainly help M$ in their endeavor to power the intelligence behind TV...they should purchase Sony Vegas from Sony Creative and pump the sort of promotion behind it that Apple does with Final Cut Pro.
Vegas is the world's fastest and most flexible nonlinear editing application and it only needs one or two minor additions to make it better than both AVID and FCP put together..­.EDL/keyco­de/edge number import and export to and from AVID and FCP, and a better metadata I/O between same.
Outside of that Vegas needs absolutely NOTHING that isn't already there or available via plug ins and add ons.
It is fully frame rate and resolution agnostic, has the best scaling engine in the business and can handle anything you throw at it including 4K files from the new RED One Digital Cine camera.
Basically all it needs is a better interface with the other two majors, and industry awareness.
Microsoft acquisition of the product would accomplish the latter AND provide the impetus to achieve the former.
The result would be that Apple and AVID would be displaced from their current perch of industry dominance due to the fact that the industry would have to stop using strongarm tactics to force editors to use their products.

[MrVee]

Good read. Long, but a good read.