I joined about 1,000 of my closest co-workers in person for Bill Gates' final Town Hall today.
The event was simulcast in various cafes around campus and presented as a webcast around the world.
Titled "Looking Back, Moving Ahead", it is Bill's farewell to the company.
Attendees for the in-person session were selected by lottery, and I was one of the lucky ones (hence the hand stamp).
After five minutes of applause, Bill delivered an uplfting keynote and joking about the pending remodel of his old office (Facilities had asked him if he would be leaving at 4pm instead of 5pm). :P
Bill was in good humor, and the room was full of energy.
Bill told us that he'd still be about; working special projects with Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie. He called out Search when citing an example.
Bill and Steve took questions from employees via recorded video, including the early days, his drop-out from Harvard and when he knew Microsoft would be huge.
Stories included Steve's dropping-out of school, salary negotiations and how Bill convinced Steve to stay past the first 30 days.
On mistakes made (inevitable in a 30-plus year history), they shared they had kept a list of mistakes made in the early years, but no longer. Bill cited the GUI as the thing "not to miss", and they had even tried to convince competitors of the value at the time, but most didn't listen.
Steve joked that if compiled today, the list would be hundreds of pages long.
On threats: threats are the greatest when we don't seize the opportunities when presented with them. Steve asked us to think of the world in 10 years .. And that we will deliver value in these future markets.
Bill wrapped with a view of the future, pointing out our strengths:
- The level of Company IQ
- Learning new markets and techniques
- Driven by the fact software is never good enough
Bill still sees new, successful chapters to be written in:
- Tablet PC
- Interactive TV
- Search
Lots about this in the news; here's some bits to peruse. I'll chase some video links and post them shortly.