4/4/2025-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 ’24 of $65 BILLION.

Wowsa!

While you may sometimes curse Teams and get frustrated when Excel crashes, Bill Gates and Paul Allen were genius salespersons. (And, of course, great entrepreneurs).

That’s why you should stop momentarily and quietly applaud this mammoth company’s 50th birthday today!

Open Microsoft Word and write down that one idea floating around in your brain that could blow out your year. It’s time to scratch your creative itch and push yourself to get creative and dream big for that whale account of yours.

Ideas locked in your brain are nothing but thoughts. Grow your thoughts into tangible ideas by recording details on a blank Microsoft doc.

You might invent something that solves a big problem for a key account or invent the next MSFT. (Dream big…it’s free.)

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.

With a market cap of $2.3 trillion, it’s okay to rib Bill and Paul on their baby’s birthday. So watch this SNL skit featuring those who don’t PowerPoint.

It’s as fun as tech humor can get.