Hello. I’m a Windows Phone
After four and a half years as in the field organization of Microsoft an Evangelist, I’ve decided to move jobs within the company. I’ll be moving to the Windows Mobile team as a Product Manager, helping shape the application development experience for our mobile platform among the startup and student audiences around the world. My job will be to participate (or help people participate) in as many events as possible and expose people to the possibilities on these devices.
Why now?
While BizSpark has been a roaring success, and I could do broad marketing and evangelism for as long as I live, for the last couple of years I have been wanting to move back to focus more on a single product. BizSpark served as the platform for me to spread my wings and really lead a program for the US subsidiary, and I learned a lot along the way. In fact, if it weren’t for the success that we’d seen there, my good friend Loke Uei Tan would not have tapped me on the shoulder and referred me to the job.
It should be no surprise that mobile is a very hot area. My good friend, Kedric Van de Carr (now with Smaato), who is very involved in the mobile community in the Valley, has been telling me for months about how hot the mobile industry is and how it’s going to grow. The numbers don’t lie.
If you recall my post about the Microsoft Career Discussion, Microsoft is extremely supportive of your career plans and how you want to progress. I burned into my career plan that at some point in the near future, I wanted to move into product management and that I would like to learn more about businesses worldwide. This is step 1 in realizing that career goal.
Windows (Mobile) Phone? Really?
Yes, really. I won’t be necessarily the first to admit that we have a big battle ahead of us. We have been quiet on what we’ve been working on, but I’ll do my best to change that and be transparent when and where we can. The iPhone is a phenomenal device, Android is hitting its stride with its second generation, Blackberry and Nokia have strong footholds with their loyal audiences and Palm is resurging. Om is writing us off because of discussions he’s had with a manufacturer. But Microsoft is not one to sit back and just watch, and we have a kick-butt story with 6.5 and beyond.
What would you do, if you were me?
I know everyone’s got a ton of opinions in this area, and there’s seems to be a fair amount of speculation. I completely understand that we could be doing a better job of communicating about our strategy and the future, and I’ll work on that. But what is your take? What can we do to help you better leverage the Windows Phone experience from an application or a consumer perspective?
Want my old job?
Oh, and, do you know anyone who’d want my old job? You’ll get our program manage Startup oriented evangelism efforts (BizSpark). If you’re interested, and live in the SF Bay Area, drop me a note.
I’m really excited about my new job. And if you’re a mobile app developer, hit me up!
“ai”
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