Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • IT Management

    How Does Your Workday Compare to Steve Ballmer’s?

    By
    Peter Galli
    -
    March 6, 2008
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      LAS VEGAS-Ever wondered what drives Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, or what he does every day as head of the largest software company in the world?

      Well, apparently, so do lots of other people. During a fireside chat at the annual MIX conference here March 5, moderator Guy Kawasaki, a managing director at Garage Technology Ventures and a former Fellow at Apple Computer, asked Ballmer those very questions.

      He is driven by three primary things, the Microsoft CEO replied. Firstly, he loves what he does and loves the fact that the company is at the forefront of creating technologies that change the world.

      Second, he has the chance to work with some of the smartest, most energetic people in the world and, thirdly, he enjoys good challenges “and we’ve got them.”

      Ballmer said he also had three kinds of workdays: those where he is out of the office meeting with customers all day, which is energizing for him; those where he is in the office and had back-to-back meetings; and those that are quiet, with maybe one meeting, where he can do research, think about and follow up on things that are important to him.

      Ballmer also said he only gets about 70 pieces of e-mail a day, and that he doesn’t have a range of filters controlling that. He also answers most of those e-mails himself, or forwards them to someone who can.

      With regard to Chairman Bill Gates’ transition to his foundation full-time this summer, Ballmer said he did not know what having Gates “working part time at Microsoft” actually meant, noting that the company had already changed in ways people were not always aware of.

      “Many of the innovations today don’t come from Bill, they come from other people. The whole needs to be bigger than the sum of the parts, and that will come from a small leadership team in addition to [Chief Software Architect] Ray Ozzie, [Chief Research and Strategy Officer] Craig Mundie and myself,” he said.

      Asked what was up with Vista, Ballmer said “you mean the second-most popular operating system in our history,” to which Kawasaki responded, “Yeah, no choice.”

      Ballmer said Vista was very popular in the consumer world, but acknowledged that it had issues with application and hardware compatibility. “We made the choice to increase security at the expense of application quality and our customers have told us that caused them a lot of pain.”

      Great companies either move forward or became less relevant, Ballmer said, adding that Microsoft continues to push forward. Most companies just built one skill set, he said, unlike Microsoft.

      When challenged by Kawasaki about that statement, Ballmer quipped that “the last time I checked there were a lot of government’s that think we have a high market share.” Kawasaki responded, “Especially in the EU.”

      “No comment,” Ballmer said.

      With regard to the browser market, Ballmer said Firefox had built some share over the years, but Microsoft was investing very heavily in its browser. “You’ve seen a little of what we have in IE 8 and there’s a lot more to come. Expect to see a lot more browser innovation from us,” he said.

      Asked about making Internet Explorer available for the Mac, Ballmer retorted that it was smarter for Microsoft to innovate on new things as opposed to porting another browser to the Mac.

      Peter Galli
      Peter Galli has been a financial/technology reporter for 12 years at leading publications in South Africa, the UK and the US. He has been Investment Editor of South Africa's Business Day Newspaper, the sister publication of the Financial Times of London.He was also Group Financial Communications Manager for First National Bank, the second largest banking group in South Africa before moving on to become Executive News Editor of Business Report, the largest daily financial newspaper in South Africa, owned by the global Independent Newspapers group.He was responsible for a national reporting team of 20 based in four bureaus. He also edited and contributed to its weekly technology page, and launched a financial and technology radio service supplying daily news bulletins to the national broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which were then distributed to some 50 radio stations across the country.He was then transferred to San Francisco as Business Report's U.S. Correspondent to cover Silicon Valley, trade and finance between the US, Europe and emerging markets like South Africa. After serving that role for more than two years, he joined eWeek as a Senior Editor, covering software platforms in August 2000.He has comprehensively covered Microsoft and its Windows and .Net platforms, as well as the many legal challenges it has faced. He has also focused on Sun Microsystems and its Solaris operating environment, Java and Unix offerings. He covers developments in the open source community, particularly around the Linux kernel and the effects it will have on the enterprise.He has written extensively about new products for the Linux and Unix platforms, the development of open standards and critically looked at the potential Linux has to offer an alternative operating system and platform to Windows, .Net and Unix-based solutions like Solaris.His interviews with senior industry executives include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Linus Torvalds, the original developer of the Linux operating system, Sun CEO Scot McNealy, and Bill Zeitler, a senior vice president at IBM.For numerous examples of his writing you can search under his name at the eWEEK Website at www.eweek.com.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×