4 ms·

Then why did Microsoft stagnate under his leadership, once Gates left?

by ido 10y ago

jedberg 10y ago
COOs don't make good CEOs in general. They are great at executing someone else's vision, but not great at coming up with one on their own.
- moomin 10y ago
  I'm not saying Microsoft didn't need a change by the end of Ballmer's reign, but it is seriously underrated. Yes there were many mis-steps, especially in the consumer space, but he never put a foot wrong in the enterprise space and got a lock few would have credited would be possible with a Windows-server-only strategy.
  - jedberg 10y ago
    Ballmer did a great job keeping the ship going for sure. He just failed to turn into the wind. :)
sangnoir 10y ago
Because intelligence by itself does not assure success. I'm not a Balmer/Microsoft fan, but 'stagnated' isn't the word I'd use to describe Microsoft in Balmer's era: they missed mobile and got into search late, but they did extremely well in other areas.
- ido 10y ago
  He stepped in in 2000, with microsoft being the top dog of the tech world, and left in 2014 with them not even being one of the "big four". Right now Apple, Amazon, Google & HP are all bigger (in terms of revenue) than Microsoft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_information_technology_companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_informatio...
  - sangnoir 10y ago
    > He stepped in in 2000, with microsoft being the top dog of the tech world, and left in 2014 with them not even being one of the "big four". It seems we are in agreement - being overtaken =/= stagnation. A more convincing argument would have been if their revenues had plateued under Ballmer (they didn't - revenue grew by 280% from $25B to $70B in 2014).
Delmania 10y ago
That's a common misconception about Ballmer. The stock stagnated and they did miss mobile. However, if you look at their financials, under Ballmer revenue doubled and net income increased. Ballmer may not be the best person to identify and capitalize on new trends, but if you want someone who can make money, he's your man.
kesselvon 10y ago
Ballmer focused on the unsexy enterprise market and missed mobile. He got beaten up for it in the stock market, but the company was still doing well

Then why did Microsoft stagnate under his leadership, once Gates left?

by ido 10y ago

Then why did Microsoft stagnate under his leadership, once Gates left?

COOs don't make good CEOs in general. They are great at executing someone else's vision, but not great at coming up with one on their own.

moomin 10y ago
I'm not saying Microsoft didn't need a change by the end of Ballmer's reign, but it is seriously underrated. Yes there were many mis-steps, especially in the consumer space, but he never put a foot wrong in the enterprise space and got a lock few would have credited would be possible with a Windows-server-only strategy.
- jedberg 10y ago
  Ballmer did a great job keeping the ship going for sure. He just failed to turn into the wind. :)

sangnoir 10y ago

Because intelligence by itself does not assure success. I'm not a Balmer/Microsoft fan, but 'stagnated' isn't the word I'd use to describe Microsoft in Balmer's era: they missed mobile and got into search late, but they did extremely well in other areas.

ido 10y ago
He stepped in in 2000, with microsoft being the top dog of the tech world, and left in 2014 with them not even being one of the "big four". Right now Apple, Amazon, Google & HP are all bigger (in terms of revenue) than Microsoft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_information_technology_companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_informatio...
- sangnoir 10y ago
  > He stepped in in 2000, with microsoft being the top dog of the tech world, and left in 2014 with them not even being one of the "big four". It seems we are in agreement - being overtaken =/= stagnation. A more convincing argument would have been if their revenues had plateued under Ballmer (they didn't - revenue grew by 280% from $25B to $70B in 2014).

Delmania 10y ago

That's a common misconception about Ballmer. The stock stagnated and they did miss mobile. However, if you look at their financials, under Ballmer revenue doubled and net income increased. Ballmer may not be the best person to identify and capitalize on new trends, but if you want someone who can make money, he's your man.

kesselvon 10y ago

Ballmer focused on the unsexy enterprise market and missed mobile. He got beaten up for it in the stock market, but the company was still doing well