Startup Empowerment

I've made the official transition to Microsoft Australia, so formally tying off this blog (since it is referenced mostly from US sites). Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

We’re just a couple months away from the Microsoft Partner Network changeover.  In May, some of the programs like Empower for ISVs phase out and the new subscriptions like the Action Pack for Development & Design phase in.  We’ll move from...

I was in Las Vegas last week for MIX10, Microsoft’s conference for web designers and developers.  This was my first time at this particular conference. The event was top notch and there were many exciting announcements.  Here is the highlight...

I’ll be at Boston WebsiteSpark Meetup next week (2/24) to meet with interested web devs and designers.  Reminder: WebsiteSpark is Microsoft’s offering to enable the success of Web developers and designers by driving new business opportunities, offering...

MSDev is our best zero-cost, easy-access developer training site we provide for app dev oriented partners. There are hundreds of training modules provided on a wide range of technologies and it gets refreshed ongoing as new technologies come to market...

Last week we hosted a couple hundred of our top partners in Redmond for the Platform Strategy Review.  This is always a high quality event, providing our top partners access to Microsoft executives and product groups.  I was fortunate to have...

Pizza sales spike during Superbowl Sunday.  Domino’s Pizza showcased their Azure application at the recent Professional Developers Conference, designed to help handle the significant spike their web application gets around the Superbowl.  Speaking...

Of the 22 startups attending BizSpark Camp, 5 were selected as finalists to present to a panel of judges: Chatfe CoNeXus Software EnTech Solutions No Excuse Accounting Summit Cloud Congratulations to all the finalists!  We will be publishing video...

We have a very interactive group of startups (a good thing!) attending the first BizSpark Camp.  We’re going through the Azure training this AM and will cut them loose for development this afternoon. We’ll use the following criteria to judge who...

The Azure cloud computing incentives are pouring down.  State and local government partners can rake in up to $10,000 by building a State/Local Azure Application .  Details are here . The deadline for submissions is February 5, 2010 , and winners...

Following is a list of US Hosters supporting Microsoft WebsiteSpark (WebsiteSpark helps professional Web developers and designers by providing access to new business opportunities, Microsoft tools and hosting solutions, as well as support and training...

I was able to join the Boston BizSpark Meetup this past week in the Microsoft Cambridge offices (affectionately known as NERD ).  It thought it would be tough timing given Tech Tuesday was running concurrently on a different floor, but I was very...

Several BizSpark Meetups have sprung out of recent BizSpark Incubation Weeks ( Boston , New York , Atlanta ).  These can be helpful for connecting with other startups and others swirling in the startup ecosystem. I’ll be at the Boston BizSpark Meetup...

We’ve run a number of successful Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Weeks over the past year and are now bringing the love to New York City in the form of Microsoft BizSpark Camp . BizSpark Camp will be held 1/28 to 1/29/2010 and consist of ½ day of training...

Where did December go?  It was here, then… poof it was gone! I had the opportunity earlier in the month to meet with our Managed ISVs via roundtables in DC and Chicago.  We’d received fantastic ratings from our partners in the most recent survey...

Videos are now available for the 7 startups that successfully completed BizSpark Incubation Week in Atlanta a couple weeks ago. Linxter brings MonitorGrid to manage servers from cloud LessMeeting improves the productivity and efficiency of enterprise...

We’ve gotten past our video production challenges and now have startup interviews available from the recent BizSpark Incubation Week in Boston:  SocialGrow: Grow Your Social Network Panopto utilizes Windows 7 features in Presentation Recording solution...

We wrapped up another BizSpark Incubation Week on Friday (in Atlanta, GA).  This time there were 7 startups participating (a record for Incubation Week!)  The last few Incubation Weeks focused on optimizing for Windows 7.  This event targeting...

It has been almost 2 weeks since the launch of Windows 7 – an opportunity to pause and look back on our preparation and the stellar support provided by our partner ecosystem.  Windows 7 has landed exceptionally well in the marketplace. We’ve seen...

Updating this post with a new and improved step by step guide (created by Tony Bailey)... Once we flip Windows Azure into production mode , it won’t be the free flowing sandbox it is today. I suggest you kick the tires to see how to create an Azure...

I hosted a BizSpark Startup Community roundtable in Connecticut today.  Attendees represented investors, associations, and of course BizSpark startups.  Each shared a resource they thought was valuable to them and we had a lively discussion...

We wrapped up another exciting BizSpark Incubation Week on Friday (in Boston).  We had 5 quality teams participating and it was very interesting to see the variety of Windows 7 capabilities used (multi-touch, IE8 accelerators, taskbar integration...

I had the opportunity to kick off the Windows 7 developer track in Boston this week.  The “New Efficiency” launch is how Microsoft is introducing Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Exchange 2010.  The developer session was 100% full: people...

I love the unConference format: it is “survival of the fittest” for discussion topics. I attended the Mass Tech Leadership Council unConference this week: 400 investors and other influentials combined with up and coming entrepreneurs made for an energetic...

We are coming down the home stretch in preparing for the upcoming BizSpark Incubation Week in Boston (October 5-9). These are high value events that help startups build out solutions in record time by leveraging Microsoft technical experts as well as...