Brian Groth's Life at Microsoft

In a few days I will be wrapping up my duties in Redmond and Lorie (wife), Milo (dog), and I will hit the road for a much needed vacation to visit friends and family around the USA. As of October 1st, we should be living full time in London. Once there...

Cameron Olthuis offers a good list of things to monitor to track the buzz going on regarding your brand. Company name Company URL Public facing figures Product names Product URLs The industry “hang outs” Employee activity/blogs Conversations Brand image...

I will mostly be focused on Windows Live Messenger , Windows Live Mail , and Windows Live Spaces once I move to London in September or October, but check out the ever-growing list of products that I will also be involved with in one way or another: see...

I just skimmed through "Creating Passionbrands" by Helen Edwards and Derek Day and liked a few of their ideas regarding creating and managing a brand. First off, a "passionbrand" is a brand that stands for something more than just a product, also sometimes...

I recently skimmed through "The Ultimate Marketing Plan" by Dan S. Kennedy and "Full Frontal PR" by Richard Laermer. This got me thinking about what makes a good marketing message and how to best get that message heard. Creating Your Messages: Your marketing...

For the last month or two I have been working on a project that has started to see the light of day, at least within Microsoft. It's all about reorganizing part of the company to give more control an ownership to subsidiary managers while creating some...

I just read three interesting marketing-related articles at www.strategy-business.com : The Future of Advertising Is Now: http://www.strategy-business.com/press/article/06204 Beyond Brand Management: http://www.strategy-business.com/press/article...

I just did quick read of Sun-Tzu and the Art of Business and got some great points to keep in mind regarding competitors in business: Know yourself, know your competitors, and know your market Think clearly and act decisively, giving clear...

You have to check this out (it's cool, trust me): Go to http://search.msn.com/local/results.aspx?q=bouchee+cr%C3%AAperie+and+caf%C3%A9&w=Seattle%2C+WA&FORM=QBXR (it's a Local search for Bouchee Crêperie and Café Fremont from the point of...

This thing is amazing! It runs Windows XP (Vista once that ships) and all apps that run on Windows. Check out the experience (the UI, apps, etc.) at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/umpc/seeit.mspx Check out the devices at http://www.microsoft...

I just read a good article at Strategy-Business.com called Sharpening Your Business Acumen . It gives examples of GE, BP, Apple, and others and talks about "linking an insightful assessment of the external business landscape with the keen awareness of...

I can't wait! Chris Henley has a great video showing how voice recognition is built into Windows Vista. Check it out at http://blogs.technet.com/chenley/archive/2006/02/21/420136.aspx

I am moving to the MSN / Windows Live team! I have been working with the Microsoft Technology Centers for a few years now, and have been focused on the "enterprise" customer space for my entire 12 years here at Microsoft. So, it's time to move. I am...

I just ran across some interesting information that may help someone out there execute on their sales strategy. The Prime Resource Group lists some common challenges people face, which are: Our marketing strategy message is poorly executed...

You may have heard of this as Expert Systems, Decision Support Systems, Customer-Management Systems (CRM), and probably a dozen others. I just read an interesting article on Strategy+Business about “ customer-sensing capability ” , which is the...

As I spend Friday night watching The Magnificent Seven , which is based on the Seven Samarai I got to thinking about business plans. OK, they’re not related to business plans, but whatever. I was recently reading an article at Strategy+Business...

Tonight on http://www.tailrank.com/ , a link to " A Guide to: How to Win Friends & Influence People " came up on and it covers the entire book by Dale Caregie, and specifically also covers Leading and Motivating Others . See the link for details,...

The McKinsey Mind explains how McKinsey & Co . use a fact-based method of problem solving based on the following steps. The following is my interpretation of these steps: What’s the problem? Identifying and isolating the core problem, which...

I have been reading Execution and The Leadership Challenge , which both cover the practices, behaviors, and commitments that a leader should master. The list below is how I merge the topics of these two books into something more logical to me, hopefully...

I received a request today from William Prado to help drive people to a study he is doing that is very similar to many of my blog entries. Instead of describing it myself, I have copied the text he wrote for me. Please note that neither Microsoft or I...

Did you know that you can get the courseware for a variety of MTC courses online, for free? I can’t imagine spending the time to go through all of the lectures, readings, assignments, exams, labs, and all other materials for each undergraduate and...

When writing a business plan you of course need to think about your Marketing Strategy and Sales Strategy. The Chase Market Velocity blog has an interesting and useful way of looking at traditional approaches for marketing and sales strategies compared...

I’ve been thinking of turning a couple of ideas into actual business plans and seeing what becomes of them within Microsoft, so I have been refreshing my knowledge of what’s in a business plan. Joe Hadzima has some good tips to keep in mind when writing...

Business 2.0 has a good article about a handbook of sorts that they say CEOs swear by. Below is my version or interpretation of their list that should really apply to any manager, not just a CEO: Have the right strategy Admit when you don...

This blog is for my peers at Microsoft: Having this cool little rail system around campus would make it a heck of a lot easier to get to meetings on time. Check out the photos and videos at http://gettherefast.org/bettercampus/bc-ms1.html#1 - from what...