Microsoft
Facts
- HQ
- NASDAQ:MSFT
- Sectors
- Technology, Workplace tools, Cloud
- Founded
- 1975
- Employees
- 221000
- Stage
- Public
The Global Innovation Exchange
Two years ago, the University of Washington and China's premier tech school, Tsinghua University, announced a first-of-its kind project: The Global Innovation Exchange. It's an innovative new approach to teaching entrepreneurship and it's approaching its official launch. On this episode of the GeekWire podcast, we speak with GIX Co-Director and UW's VP of innovation strategy Vikram Jandhyala about the new project and how it's setting out to disrupt the innovation economy. Follow all our coverage and learn more about GIX at GeekWire.com Thank you to this week's sponsors: The University of Washington Human Centered Design and Engineering department. Learn more…
Tech meets politics with WTIA CEO Michael Schutzler
Tech companies doesn’t always get along well with politicians — or with each other, for that matter. It’s Michael Schutzler’s job to be the go-between, bringing together a huge range of Washington tech companies and politicians to make sure the industry can thrive. We dive into issues like paid family medical leave, immigration and the state of Washington’s tech in this episode of the GeekWire podcast. Follow all our tech coverage at GeekWire.com Thank you to this week's sponsors: The University of Washington's Human Centered Design and Engineering department. Learn more: www.hcde.washington.edu; and Hughes Marino, the commercial real estate company…
Week in Geek: The Uber of dating
Tired of the dating scene? Exclusive dating app League is hoping so, and it’s bringing its Uber of dating to Seattle. Plus, a ride-along with Seattle Police as they enforce the new Washington state distracted driving law and what truck drivers think of startup Convoy and the emergence of automated vehicles. Follow all our coverage and read the stories we talked about this week at GeekWire.com Thank you to this week's sponsors: The University of Washington's Human Centered Design and Engineering department. Learn more: www.hcde.washington.edu. And Hughes Marino, the commercial real estate company now expanding to Seattle. Learn more: hughesmarino.com…
Author argues regional VCs must map startups to the venture-capital 'stack' to connect local companies with San Francisco/New York growth capital
The author connects the concept of the venture capital valuation stack with how institutional LPs view regionally focused managers, arguing that regional innovation hubs can succeed only if they understand how to connect local startups to centralized global capital markets concentrated in places like San Francisco and New York.
Health Tech: A tiny gadget takes on a giant health problem
Taking a pill isn’t so hard. The tricky thing is remembering to take it. Patients not taking medication properly is a huge problem for the health industry, but these three entrepreneurs think they have a solution: A gadget that can fit in the palm of your hand. Thank you to our sponsor, Providence St. Joseph Health’s Digital and Innovation Group. Follow them at twitter.com/provinnovation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How a new VC fund is trying to change the game for Seattle entrepreneurs
Flying Fish Venture Partners has a bold plan: completely change the game for entrepreneurs in Seattle. We sit down with Heather Redman, one of the fund's co-founders, to hear her vision for the fund and how she plans to shake up Seattle's startup ecosystem. Follow all our coverage, including more about Pacific Northwest startups, at GeekWire.com Thank you to this week’s sponsors: Wealthsimple — GeekWire listeners pay no management fees for a year when they invest up to $15,000 on Wealthsimple’s automated investing platform. GoDaddy — who is offering GeekWire listeners 35 percent off their purchase of a GoDaddy domain…
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman shares startup secrets
It’s been 15 years since Reid Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn. The company was acquired by Microsoft last year for $2.6 billion and Hoffman now sits on Microsoft’s board, but he’s still very much an entrepreneur. On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we share Hoffman’s full talk at the recent Technology Alliance Luncheon in downtown Seattle, where he shares thoughts on how to drive entrepreneurship, the success of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and, of course, Settlers of Catan. Follow all our coverage, including more on Hoffman's talk, at GeekWire.com. Thank you to this week’s sponsors: Wealthsimple — GeekWire listeners pay no management…
Smartsheet Rises to No. 6 on GeekWire 200 List with Over $70M Revenue and Boston Expansion Plans
Smartsheet has risen to number six on the GeekWire 200 list of privately held Pacific Northwest startups, up from 13th at the start of the year, driven by strong subscription revenue growth and key executive hires. Other notable movers include Vacation rental startup Vacasa entering the top 10 and Seattle’s Highspot climbing to number 148 after forming a strategic partnership with Brainshark.
Swym Launches Platform to Help E-Commerce Retailers Offer Amazon-Like Multi-Device Shopping Experiences
Swym, a Seattle-based startup, offers a platform that helps e-commerce retailers track shopper behavior across devices to provide personalized shopping experiences similar to Amazon's. Founded to enhance mobile shopping convenience, Swym aims to level the playing field for smaller retailers competing against giants like Amazon and Walmart.
Week in Geek: Uber takes Seattle to court and Bertha gets her big break
Uber won a small victory in its legal battle with the City of Seattle this week, but the fight is far from over. In more promising news, Seattle's giant tunnel boring machine, Bertha, finally reached the finishing line of the nearly two-mile tunnel she's been creating under the city. We get first-hand accounts of both events from GeekWire reporters on this episode of the Week in Geek, and also take a look at some interesting shifts in the startup funding landscape. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Slack Wars
Slack, the messaging and collaboration tool for teams, is all the rage right now inside many companies, and it has some big new competition from Google, Microsoft and others. We're going inside this growing market today with our guest, Samir Diwan, the co-founder and CEO of Seattle startup Polly.ai, a bot that runs polls and surveys in Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Hangouts Chat. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
GeekWire turns 6
This week marked GeekWire's 6th anniversary, and it's been quite the wild ride for co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. On this GeekWire Podcast special, they talk about their experience so far as entrepreneurs, and how Seattle's tech scene has changed over the past 6 years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Over 100 Tech Companies and Startups Join Lawsuit Against Trump’s Immigration Ban Citing Harm to Innovation Economy
Tech giants and over 100 startups and investors, including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, have joined a lawsuit against President Trump's immigration ban, arguing it causes immediate harm to innovation and the U.S. economy. They emphasize immigrants' crucial role in founding startups and driving technological innovation that contributes to national prosperity and security.
GeekWire 200 November Update: DocuSign Tops as Textio Rises 23 Spots and Morningstar Acquires PitchBook for $180M
The November update of the GeekWire 200 highlights Pacific Northwest startups leveraging recent large funding rounds to expand products and staff, with DocuSign leading the list. Notable moves include Textio jumping 23 spots to number 176 and Avvo advancing into the seventh spot, while PitchBook was acquired by Morningstar for $180 million.
Bryson DeChambeau Partners with Microsoft and Sensoria to Create Smart Pressure-Sensing Golf Grip Using Azure Cloud
Bryson DeChambeau collaborated with Microsoft and Sensoria to develop a smart golf grip equipped with eight sensors that measure grip pressure during swings, sending real-time data via Microsoft Azure for analysis. The project aims to leverage machine learning to optimize DeChambeau's grip consistency and swing mechanics.
Seattle 10 Names Top Startups to Showcase at GeekWire Gala Dec. 7 at MOHAI
The Seattle 10 highlights the region’s most promising startups across diverse industries such as education, enterprise software, virtual reality, and robotics. These selected startups will creatively showcase their business ideas on large cocktail napkins at the GeekWire Gala on December 7th at MOHAI.
Microsoft and Nathan Myhrvold Lead $20.7M Investment in Atlas, Launching Digital Footprint Search Engine Atlas Recall
Microsoft, Nathan Myhrvold, and Aspect Ventures invested $20.7 million in Seattle-based Atlas Informatics, which launched Atlas Recall, a search engine for indexing users' entire digital footprint with an open beta release for Mac and iOS. The technology captures encrypted records of user activity across apps by integrating deeply with the operating system and supports search via Google and Mac Spotlight.
Bill Gates-Backed Kymeta Demonstrates High-Speed Flat-Panel Satellite Antennas at Monaco Yacht Show, Secures Superyacht Commitments
Kymeta Corp., backed by Bill Gates, showcased its flat-panel satellite antennas at the Monaco Yacht Show, delivering high-speed broadband to yachts using Panasonic’s satellite network. The demonstration impressed superyacht owners, resulting in commitments for Kymeta’s mTenna technology from iconic yachts and promising significantly faster maritime broadband.
Hulu buys Vhoto assets, shuts down service and hires most of Seattle startup’s team; Noah Heller joins Hulu
Hulu purchased the assets of Seattle video startup Vhoto last fall, shut down the Vhoto service, and hired most of its team to work in Hulu’s Seattle engineering office. Vhoto founder Noah Heller has moved to Hulu as vice president of audience development and data partnerships; financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Pioneer Square Labs Raises $12.5M from Foundry Group, Bezos Expeditions and 50 Angels to Build Start-Ups
Pioneer Square Labs, a Seattle "start-up studio," raised $12.5 million from over a dozen VC firms and 50 angel investors to build companies from in-house ideas. Backers include Bezos Expeditions, Rich Barton, and lead investor Foundry Group among others.
Pioneer Square Labs raises $12.5M from 13 VCs and 50+ angels; Foundry Group led, Brad Feld joins board
Pioneer Square Labs, a new Seattle startup studio co-founded by Geoff Entress, Greg Gottesman, Mike Galgon and Ben Gilbert, raised $12.5 million from 13 VC firms and over 50 angels. Foundry Group led the round and Brad Feld will join PSL's board.
Liz Howekamp Powell named head of organic growth at Pro.com; Cyanogen appoints Frank Montes as general counsel
Liz Howekamp Powell has joined Seattle home-improvement marketplace Pro.com as head of organic growth after five years at WhitePages, citing firsthand experience with remodeling as motivation; Pro.com is led by former Digg CEO Matt Williams and has raised over $17 million. Cyanogen hired Frank Montes as general counsel; Montes previously served as general counsel at Coin Inc. and worked as a lawyer at Facebook and Google.
Shauna Causey joins EveryMove; Garret Link named VP of Product; SNUPI adds ex‑Dropcam VP Elizabeth Hamren to board
Shauna Causey, formerly of UP Global and Decide.com, has joined Seattle health startup EveryMove, which also named Garret Link as VP of product; EveryMove aims to improve 10 million lives in 10 years and is backed by several Blue Cross Blue Shield ventures. SNUPI Technologies added former Dropcam marketing VP Elizabeth Hamren to its board as it develops the WallyHome leak and temperature detector.
Windows UX leader Jensen Harris leaves Microsoft to co‑found Textio, a language‑analysis startup
Jensen Harris, a 16-year Microsoft veteran who led Windows user experience, is leaving Microsoft to co‑found Textio, an early-stage Seattle startup that analyzes language to predict how well job listings or project descriptions will attract desired candidates or succeed. He and co‑founder Kieran Snyder (CEO) presented their plans after Harris announced his departure, saying his exit was personal and not driven by recent Windows 10 UI changes.
Oren Etzioni, UW Professor and Decide CTO, Discusses Farecast, Siri, Burning Man and Algorithm-Driven Startups
Oren Etzioni, a University of Washington computer science professor, serial entrepreneur and Madrona Venture Group partner, builds algorithm-driven businesses like Farecast and Decide that predict consumer electronics prices. The interview covers his work, views on AI and social networks, experiences with Siri and Burning Man, and advice for computer science students.
People
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Ali Farhadi Executive, Former Allen Institute for AI CEO
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Bill Gates Executive, Former CEO, Co-founder
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Dan Lewis Executive, Corporate Vice President
