Fortune: four golden laws of gates

Fortune June 21ArticleIt is pointed out that although Bill Gates will step down Microsoft's power stage in July 1, his valuable wealth to the company will continue to guide the company towards the future. Microsoft will adhere to the following four golden rules that he has adhered to over the years:

1. Think of the software as an idealized tool. Gates said: "Thirty-three years ago, we founded Microsoft based on the idea that software would become very important.
Looking forward to the future, software and popular software platforms will soon create more value than before. "

Gates colleagues call this idea a utopia for software development. Gates believes that software is omnipotent.
That is to say, changes have just begun. Microsoft senior executive Craig
Mundie said: "Today, Microsoft actually thinks that it is only a software company, not a special software company. It is neither a computer software company nor a word processing software company. Microsoft still has a long way to go. "

2. technology first. Microsoft has approximately 90 thousand employees, about 30 thousand of whom areProgramMember.
Regardless of the Department, the technical staff will participate in every important decision. In addition, the salaries of technicians are generally higher than those of other employees.

In addition, technical staff are also very well treated at Microsoft. Microsoft has the world's largest computer science R & D laboratory, with a total cost of up to $8 billion. Gates said he believes that every other employee of Microsoft should have close relationships with at least five technicians.

3. Institutional paranoia. Gates said: "Microsoft always has the worst plans. "His heirs share the same feeling, and they want to keep it.
Several years ago, many people worried that Linux and open-source software could cause Microsoft to die. Today, those who thought consumers would use open-source software from now on are still using Microsoft products.

At the same time, Windows Server is constantly gaining the Linux market share. It is the sense of worry that drives companies to make the necessary changes.
Ray Ozzie, chief software architect at the company, said: "Bill and Steve have created a crisis culture. That is to say, a company may be defeated by someone at any time.
This is hypothetical, but at any time, Microsoft may face two or three powerful competitors. Microsoft employees have become accustomed to this. "

4. long-term investment. So far, Sharepoint is still one of Microsoft's most successful products. enterprise users can use this tool to create internal and external websites.
This year, Sharepoint will contribute $1 billion to Microsoft's revenue. However, this product has been in existence for 10 years.

Robbie, president of Microsoft entertainment Branch
"No matter how long the cycle is, we will continue to invest because we know that there are still great business opportunities, regardless of the cycle. The same is true for Microsoft. "(