Why I joined Microsoft

People keep asking me about my reasons to join Microsoft.

For some of them it was a logical step, others would have expected me to join an international VC, working on an own fund or founding my own business again.

Actually there are dozens of reasons. But let me summarize my top 5:

#1 Learning curve

This is so different than anything else I had before. My learning curve is probably 10x steeper than it would have been in continuing as a pure VC or doing things I had already done before (I've still retained my VC DNA as Venture Partner for EQT Ventures though).

Organization, enterprise sales, culture, tech etc. - it's an endless treasury of know-how and best practices on an enormous scale.

 I put my learning curve always as no. 1 priority when I take career decisions. And I would advise everyone to do so.

Don't be a know-it-all; be a learn-it-all. (…) In other words, experts consider themselves "know-it-alls." But instead of considering yourself an expert, what if you think of yourself as a student? Now, you've switched your focus. Instead of limiting yourself or becoming overly concerned with how you are viewed by others, your primary concern is one of growth. Mistakes are no longer "failures"; rather, they're learning opportunities. And that influences your entire approach to work and life.”

Quote from: Microsoft's CEO Just Gave Some Brilliant Career Advice. Here It Is in 1 Sentence

 #2 Deep Tech

After a 2.5 year journey with a media and B2C focus, I'm again able to focus on my real passion: Real, deep tech. Especially AI (see: “Microsoft 2017 annual report lists AI as top priority”).

On the one hand, we are working solely with B2B Tech startups building great tech products. On the other hand I explore day to day fantastic tech minds at Microsoft. I've just spoken to a colleague who built the foundation of Skype's synchronous translation tool and another one who is a key person in the development of the Cognitive Toolkit, Microsoft's equivalent of TensorFlow.

#3 International Network

Seattle, London, Tel Aviv, Beijing, Shanghai, Bengaluru. This is where our task force and team is located in. The international and cultural diversity is amazing and the network I can build from west to east is priceless.

#4 Digital Transformation

There is hardly a corporate out there worldwide that is more serious about transforming its own (still fantastic performing) core business than Microsoft (see "Microsoft’s successful transformation: From Microsoft to Microcloud").

It's so enlightening to see how one of the largest corporates ever restuctures its organization and strategic roadmap to build the foundations of its future. It’s amazing to watch how Satya Nadella pushes the whole organization to the cloud business. Having worked at the intersection of startups and corporates and in digital transformation projects for years, it's fascinating to observe this from the inside.

 #5 Bucket list

It was always on my bucket list to work for a top 5 global tech giant. Check.