4 ms·

This reminds me of a very different time... In 1997, then CEO of Sybase Mitchell Kertzman said in an interview with the French trade magazine 01 Informatique:

This reminds me of a very different time... In 1997, then CEO of Sybase Mitchell Kertzman said in an interview with the French trade magazine 01 Informatique: "Q: When you launched Jaguar CTS, a middleware tool competing with a Microsoft product, you received a rather explicit phone call... A: It was the Mafia! When I hung up, I realized that I had just received a phone call from the godfather who forbade me to sell drugs on his territory. And you know, Microsoft people behave like the Mafia: they don't have to break your leg, they just have to threaten you." Source (in French): http://bat8.inria.fr/~lang/hotlist/free/abuse/mafia/kertzman.html http://bat8.inria.fr/~lang/hotlist/free/abuse/mafia/kertzman...

gherkinnn 6y ago
Oh. Never got it as a child, but the Simpsons hat a bit about just that: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H27rfr59RiE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H27rfr59RiE
brobdingnagians 6y ago
Does he mean that Microsoft literally called him and told him not to use Jaguar CTS? Would that be telemetry phoning back when competing products were used? I'm a bit confused by the word choice there.
- pjc50 6y ago
  He meant when he started selling it he got a phone call telling him not to do so from Microsoft.
bitL 6y ago
It seems like completing the Mafia trilogy games is a prerequisite for being a CxO...
huhtenberg 6y ago
Back in the early '00s there was a popular legend in the startup circles that you don't want Microsoft to be interested in what you do. The legend went that if Microsoft liked you and decided to acquire you, they would give you a binary choice between a low-ball offer and a lawsuit based on their patent portfolio.
- kuschku 6y ago
  It's no legend, and all that's changed is that they don't even threaten you anymore, but straight up outcompete you without you having any recourse. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23375056 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23375056

gherkinnn 6y ago

Oh. Never got it as a child, but the Simpsons hat a bit about just that: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H27rfr59RiE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H27rfr59RiE

brobdingnagians 6y ago

Does he mean that Microsoft literally called him and told him not to use Jaguar CTS? Would that be telemetry phoning back when competing products were used? I'm a bit confused by the word choice there.

pjc50 6y ago
He meant when he started selling it he got a phone call telling him not to do so from Microsoft.

bitL 6y ago

It seems like completing the Mafia trilogy games is a prerequisite for being a CxO...

huhtenberg 6y ago

Back in the early '00s there was a popular legend in the startup circles that you don't want Microsoft to be interested in what you do. The legend went that if Microsoft liked you and decided to acquire you, they would give you a binary choice between a low-ball offer and a lawsuit based on their patent portfolio.

kuschku 6y ago
It's no legend, and all that's changed is that they don't even threaten you anymore, but straight up outcompete you without you having any recourse. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23375056 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23375056