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Larry Osterman - What's the secret to succeeding at one company for 20 years?

Posted: Nov 03, 2004 at 3:14 PM
By: scobleizer
Avg Rating: 3

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How do you succeed as a software developer for 20 years? Especially one working at a single company like Microsoft?

He tells an interesting story about when his boss yelled at him for trying to pass the buck.

Later in the video, he talks about what his first office was (back then Microsoft's headquarters wasn't in Redmond).

Microsoft was about 600 people back when he started (it's about 57,000 today).

Oh, and hear about his college interview: Steve Ballmer interviewed him. He called Ballmer a "total idiot" in the interview. He still got the job.

How many people can say they called Steve Ballmer an idiot and still got a job offer at Microsoft? (Ballmer back then was Vice President of HR, today he's CEO).

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Manip

Nov 03, 2004 at 3:23 PM

Did you upload the wrong video?
scobleizer I'm the video guy

Nov 03, 2004 at 4:00 PM

Yeah, I messed it up. I fixed it.
Rossj

Nov 04, 2004 at 1:45 AM

Larry's videos are so interesting, can we have a Larry Channel just chock full of Larry talking about stuff?

And I *LOVE* the way he swears ..... by gum.
AT

Nov 04, 2004 at 2:02 AM

Channel9 Website wrote:

Microsoft was about 600 people back when he started (it's about 57,000 times today).

Using calc.exe 600 * 57000 = 34,200,000

Pretty impressive headcount for one Corp.
scobleizer I'm the video guy

Nov 04, 2004 at 2:14 AM

Darn, who did this post today? Thanks, fixed it.
AT

Nov 04, 2004 at 3:11 AM

scobleizer wrote:

Darn, who did this post today? Thanks, fixed it.

Looks like very early anoucement ? Not yet public information about new 30.000.000 hires ??

Now I understand why Moon Gals from JobsBlog are busy
Greater Monster Deconstruct! (Jacques Derrida 1930-2004)

Nov 04, 2004 at 3:34 AM

scobleizer wrote:

Darn, who did this post today? Thanks, fixed it.

Hah, never put a mathematical challenge in front of a geek crowd. One mistake and it's tar and feathers But those are just virtual and come of with a bit of virtual Woolite
Greater Monster Deconstruct! (Jacques Derrida 1930-2004)

Nov 04, 2004 at 5:08 AM

scobleizer wrote:

Yeah, I messed it up. I fixed it.

Still got your job?
rasx Emperor of String.Empty

Nov 04, 2004 at 1:10 PM

Larry keeps it real. I'm liking it. We need more people like him---especially in IT shops for entertainment companies.
Charles Welcome Change

Nov 04, 2004 at 3:38 PM

Beer28 wrote:

can you guys just hide at microsoft?

Like do your work in a few minutes and spend the rest of the week at the bowling alley or playing video games?

Is microsoft big enough where nobody would find out if you kept up with the meetings and your work was marginal enough to get by?

Does anybody physically check to see if you're actually there?

The answer to all three questions is No.

Charles
Charles Welcome Change

Nov 04, 2004 at 3:41 PM

Rossj wrote:

Larry's videos are so interesting, can we have a Larry Channel just chock full of Larry talking about stuff?

And I *LOVE* the way he swears ..... by gum.

The Larry Channel. I love it.

Charles
AT

Nov 04, 2004 at 4:16 PM

Charles wrote:

Beer28 wrote: can you .... ?

Like do ... ?

Is microsoft ...?

Does anybody ... ?

The answer to all three questions is No.

If 1+1+1+1 == 3 then No == Yes ?
Charles Welcome Change

Nov 04, 2004 at 5:55 PM

I took the liberty to combine question 1 and 4, resulting in three distinct questions.

Charles
ZippyV Fired Up

Nov 04, 2004 at 6:09 PM

Can we get a reaction from Steve B?
LarryOsterman

Nov 04, 2004 at 11:04 PM

ZippyV wrote:

Can we get a reaction from Steve B?

I suspect he doesn't remember any more. Although I did ask him about it about a year or so later.

Please note: I did NOT and DO not believe that SteveB is a total idiot. He's anything but. He may have been incorrect in this case, but he's not an idiot. That part was what they call hyperbole

Steve's really the only really senior exec that knows me by name, to be honest - Bill has no clue who I am, for example. But Steve and I say hi to each other when we see each other.
Rossj

Nov 05, 2004 at 4:34 AM

LarryOsterman wrote:

Steve's really the only really senior exec that knows me by name, to be honest - Bill has no clue who I am, for example. But Steve and I say hi to each other when we see each other.

Well let's hope Bill watches these videos because he *should* know who you are . I expect the Larry Channel to be imminent.

Larry, ever considered podcasting?
cbrousseau

Nov 05, 2004 at 7:19 AM

In this video, Larry mentioned "The 12 Great Principles" of working for Microsoft. where could I find such a list?

I think everybody agree. Larry is a really fascinating guy to listen to...

Hope to see more in the future.
LarryOsterman

Nov 05, 2004 at 11:19 AM

cbrousseau wrote:

In this video, Larry mentioned "The 12 Great Principles" of working for Microsoft. where could I find such a list?

I think everybody agree. Larry is a really fascinating guy to listen to...

Hope to see more in the future.

They're not "principals" they're "core competencies". Eseentially the competencies are an internal tool that can be used to help with your career growth (oh, and it turns out that 12's not the right number). But the core competencies are things that represent the attributes behaviors of successful Microsoft employees.

It's a tool, nothing more, and nothing particularly exciting

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