4/4/2024-On this day, Microsoft was founded.

Starting companies and launching new products is not dissimilar from your role as a star seller. Both endeavors require dexterity, nimbleness, and a lot of focus.

Microsoft had revenue in Q4 ’23 of $62…BILLION. (Talk about sales quotas, eh?)

Wowsa!

While you may sometimes curse Teams and get frustrated when Excel crashes, the truth is Bill Gates and Paul Allen are genius salespersons. (And, of course…entrepreneurs.)

That’s why you should stop momentarily and quietly applaud this mammoth company’s birthday today (1975).

Open Microsoft Word and write down that one entrepreneurial idea floating around in your brain. It’s time to scratch your creative itch.

C’mon, you got something you’re working on that could be more than just a side hustle.

The goal here isn’t to encourage you to ditch your sales life; it’s to make you use the creative side of your brain, which will, in turn, bring ideas and new perspectives to mastering your current selling challenges.

You could probably figure out – or know – that the "-soft" in Microsoft stands for "software," but what about the "-Micro?"

For a ginormous company, "micro" feels pretty tiny, eh? And everyone knows Bill and Paul did not have tiny aspirations.

The "-Micro" stands for "microcomputing," which is Paul and Bill’s version of a car in every garage.

While the original Microsoft operating system was first named “Interface Manager," Bill was confronted by his marketing team, who convinced him to change the name to Windows. (Phew!)

Starting companies and launching new products is not dissimilar from your role as a star seller. Both endeavors require dexterity, nimbleness, and a lot of focus. But extra credit goes to those who are creative in their thinking and doing.

Microsoft had its share of flops along the product path but won more battles than it lost.

Be inspired by Microsoft: Think like Bill and Paul, the entrepreneurs, and keep moving relentlessly in a straight line toward your goals.

This 5-minute SNL skit featuring those who don’t Powerpoint is hilarious.

While you’ve logged a lot of time on Microsoft products, you can undoubtedly relate to the two in this skit who struggle with technology.

(Bill, Paul…with a market cap of $3 trillion, yer gonna take some ribbing…even on your birthday!)