By the mid to late 80s, we still felt overshadowed by IBM, which was the dominant force in the computing industry at that time.

In the late 90s, during the dot-com era, we faced skepticism about our software that allowed users to run multiple operating systems on one machine.

In the mobile space, we were too focused on extending Windows instead of recognizing the need for a completely new approach.

As late as the late 2000s, customers told us we weren't an enterprise company, which was a significant challenge for us.

Microsoft started as a consumer company, and our success in that area allowed us to build a strong enterprise business. However, I regret losing the consumer muscle we had.

During my tenure, I prioritized establishing strong relationships with IT departments, which was essential for Microsoft's enterprise success.

In the late '90s and early 2000s, Oracle made a courageous decision to transition from Solaris to Linux as its core platform, enabling the development of large-scale distributed systems.

After IBM divorced us in 1990, we realized we needed to figure out how to build our own enterprise sales strategy, which was not Bill Gates' passion area.

I believed there was a need for a company focused on building applications for enterprises, as it involves more complexity with multiple users and access.