SeedBlink Blog

Microsoft started as a software-only company, believing that its software would help put all kinds of hardware in every home and on every desk.

Apple has always believed that owning both hardware and software creates the best conditions for the "perfect product."

I am not saying one is right and the other is wrong, I am just following the story as it has evolved and is now getting a new chapter.

Then Microsoft (during Steve Ballmer’s tenure) started copying Apple and got its own hardware: acquired Nokia, got into the laptop/tablet business, and even copied Apple's Physical stores.

And it all failed as they strayed far from their credo. One CEO change later, after they found their true ego again, Microsoft is the "software queen" again and very successful.

Now Apple is announcing the next generation of CarPlay, which is basically an operating system for the car (well, I get it - just the UX, but the direction is clear). Apple is on its way to becoming a pure software company that can make all kinds of cars friendlier. So after MSFT tried to copy Apple and failed, Apple is now trying to copy MSFT.

Let's see how that will work out...

My point is that companies have a "credo". It starts with the vision of the founder(s), but then it becomes deeply embedded in the company culture. I believe that this credo should be accepted, nurtured and leveraged. Changes bring our weaknesses to light, and instead of solving them, they plunge us.

Disclaimer: I am only talking about this kind of deeply held credo now, which goes beyond even vision and strategy. On other levels, it is change that keeps us all alive.

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Editorial written by Radu Georgescu. Radu has over 30 years of experience in founding and developing software, internet and e-commerce companies. Successful exits include the acquisition of RAV Antivirus technology by Microsoft in 2003, the ePayment business by Naspers in 2010, Avangate by Francisco Partners in 2013 and Fitbit's Vectorwatch technology in 2016. Radu is also a board director and advisor for a series of technology start-ups and mature companies.