Heading to the BBC

June 16, 2006 By

I'll be on the BBC in a little more than an hour as part of its "NewsNight" show. What are we talking about? Bill Gates.

What am I going to say? He's the smartest guy I've ever met. Read Joel Spolsky's "BillG review" meeting notes to get a little insight.

I've had two meetings with him in addition to the Channel 9 interview we did and that lunch that Arrington attended (I interviewed him once before I was an employee too).

In the meetings I observed how he dealt with things. First, he took lots of notes. Second, he figured out where we hadn't done our homework quicker than anyone else I'd ever known. Third, he asked more questions in a shorter amount of time (one meeting was scheduled to last 30 minutes, but went an hour-and-a-half, the other was scheduled for six minutes and I think it went to seven) than I've ever been asked in my life.

Some things I told him were repeated by him on stage word-for-word months later.

He is an extraordinary person. I doubt I'll ever meet someone like him again.

His attention to detail prepared me for the rest of my life. Last night we were presenting to a group of VC's and CTOs and CEOs and we were getting the same kind of treatment, but I noticed that there were 60 people in the room last night. I then understood why Microsoft often went up against the best in the industry and won.

Anyway, enough BS. If Bill were here he'd have called "bull" on me by the fourth sentence. My few minutes spent with him will always be among my most treasured memories.

There are tons of other stories about Bill Gates over on TechMeme today.

Filed Under: 1

http://www.grannybuttons.com Andrew Denny

I thought Scoble was articulate and came across as honest, and the comment from ‘Daz’ was juvenile, sneering and unperceptive. Perhaps that’s why he’s anonymous.

In this trained-media age, articulacy is what counts. ‘Darting eyes’ are simply the video equivalent of typoes. Nowadays I don’t trust someone who answers questions with a fixed stare, nor someone who comments in anonymity.
RB

I watched the program live and agree 100% with Daz. Unfortunately it appeared you were too preoccupied in talking about the (only) 3 meetings you had with Bill and the number of questions he asks in (all of) 7 minutes. The other chap (a respected broadsheet newspaper columnist) seemed to have a much better handle on the historical context, which was all the interviewer was after.
RB

I watched the program live and agree 100% with Daz. Unfortunately it appeared you were too preoccupied in talking about the (only) 3 meetings you had with Bill and the number of questions he asks in (all of) 7 minutes. The other chap (a respected broadsheet newspaper columnist) seemed to have a much better handle on the historical context, which was all the interviewer was after.
RB

I watched the program live and agree 100% with Daz. Unfortunately it appeared you were too preoccupied in talking about the (only) 3 meetings you had with Bill and the number of questions he asks in (all of) 7 minutes. The other chap (a respected broadsheet newspaper columnist) seemed to have a much better handle on the historical context, which was all the interviewer was after.
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http://www.nevillehobson.com neville

Nice job, Robert. Just watched a recording of your Newsnight session. Yes, you’re a credible spokesperson
http://www.nevillehobson.com neville

Nice job, Robert. Just watched a recording of your Newsnight session. Yes, you’re a credible spokesperson
http://www.nevillehobson.com/ Neville Hobson

Nice job, Robert. Just watched a recording of your Newsnight session. Yes, you’re a credible spokesperson
http://www.psynixis.com/blog/ Simon Brocklehurst

Robert,

Good job on Newsnight – you came across very well. I didn’t agree with all your answers – but you put up a good defence.

Simon
http://www.psynixis.com/blog/ Simon Brocklehurst

Robert,

Good job on Newsnight – you came across very well. I didn’t agree with all your answers – but you put up a good defence.

Simon
http://www.psynixis.com/blog/ Simon Brocklehurst

Robert,

Good job on Newsnight – you came across very well. I didn’t agree with all your answers – but you put up a good defence.

Simon
http://cyquick.wordpress.com/ Cy

The BBC takes the idea of playing Devil’s Advocate in interviews to extreme and counter-productive lengths. Most of the BBC people who write scripts or appear on camera appear to be die-hard loony lefties. Their very tone of voice, sneeering and supercilious, gets on one’s tits. If anything good happens in the entire West, or the West is successful at anything, BBC types snarl with incandescent fury. I have met a few, and I once did Community Service or Job Opportunity or whatever it was called, at a local. I have been interviewed a bit but in a friendly way because the subject was politically neutral. Richard Dimbleby, when I was 8, in 1948, on Down Your Way, was a dear soul not long out of War reporting from bomber and Belsen, but aside form him, I do not like them. cyquick.wordpress.com
http://cyquick.wordpress.com/ Cy

The BBC takes the idea of playing Devil’s Advocate in interviews to extreme and counter-productive lengths. Most of the BBC people who write scripts or appear on camera appear to be die-hard loony lefties. Their very tone of voice, sneeering and supercilious, gets on one’s tits. If anything good happens in the entire West, or the West is successful at anything, BBC types snarl with incandescent fury. I have met a few, and I once did Community Service or Job Opportunity or whatever it was called, at a local. I have been interviewed a bit but in a friendly way because the subject was politically neutral. Richard Dimbleby, when I was 8, in 1948, on Down Your Way, was a dear soul not long out of War reporting from bomber and Belsen, but aside form him, I do not like them. cyquick.wordpress.com
http://cyquick.wordpress.com Cy

The BBC takes the idea of playing Devil’s Advocate in interviews to extreme and counter-productive lengths. Most of the BBC people who write scripts or appear on camera appear to be die-hard loony lefties. Their very tone of voice, sneeering and supercilious, gets on one’s tits. If anything good happens in the entire West, or the West is successful at anything, BBC types snarl with incandescent fury. I have met a few, and I once did Community Service or Job Opportunity or whatever it was called, at a local. I have been interviewed a bit but in a friendly way because the subject was politically neutral. Richard Dimbleby, when I was 8, in 1948, on Down Your Way, was a dear soul not long out of War reporting from bomber and Belsen, but aside form him, I do not like them. cyquick.wordpress.com
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http://www.itsnbits.com/ Richard

You are a lucky guy to have met Bill once, let alone several times. It would be a great experience. I am lucky to have a world-known CEO as a good family friend and find it very interesting spending time with him, although it would qualify as reasonably intense! Spending time with him over in Detroit was quite an experience – it was a way of life I could get used to!
http://www.itsnbits.com/ Richard

You are a lucky guy to have met Bill once, let alone several times. It would be a great experience. I am lucky to have a world-known CEO as a good family friend and find it very interesting spending time with him, although it would qualify as reasonably intense! Spending time with him over in Detroit was quite an experience – it was a way of life I could get used to!
http://www.itsnbits.com Richard

You are a lucky guy to have met Bill once, let alone several times. It would be a great experience. I am lucky to have a world-known CEO as a good family friend and find it very interesting spending time with him, although it would qualify as reasonably intense! Spending time with him over in Detroit was quite an experience – it was a way of life I could get used to!
http://spaces.msn.com/knowledgebyte Rob Atkinson

Rob,

On reflection, you did good, considering you had a blank canvas to interact with. It was a little unfair of the Beeb loading the program with Linux/Anti-compete stuff and having you respond over a lagging link and cutting you short

They are obviously looking for angles since the two departures. I look forward to you setting the record straight on Microsoft’s so called lack of invention – judging by the multitude of great products they’re just bringing to market, Irwin Steltzer’s comments are unfounded – he’s obviously part the Steve Gilmoor mindset..

Rob Atkinson
Kilkenny, Ireland
http://spaces.msn.com/knowledgebyte Rob Atkinson

Rob,

On reflection, you did good, considering you had a blank canvas to interact with. It was a little unfair of the Beeb loading the program with Linux/Anti-compete stuff and having you respond over a lagging link and cutting you short

They are obviously looking for angles since the two departures. I look forward to you setting the record straight on Microsoft’s so called lack of invention – judging by the multitude of great products they’re just bringing to market, Irwin Steltzer’s comments are unfounded – he’s obviously part the Steve Gilmoor mindset..

Rob Atkinson
Kilkenny, Ireland
http://spaces.msn.com/knowledgebyte Rob Atkinson

Rob,

On reflection, you did good, considering you had a blank canvas to interact with. It was a little unfair of the Beeb loading the program with Linux/Anti-compete stuff and having you respond over a lagging link and cutting you short

They are obviously looking for angles since the two departures. I look forward to you setting the record straight on Microsoft’s so called lack of invention – judging by the multitude of great products they’re just bringing to market, Irwin Steltzer’s comments are unfounded – he’s obviously part the Steve Gilmoor mindset..

Rob Atkinson
Kilkenny, Ireland
Daz

@# 30 – I work with customers, on their sites, 80% of the time. The other 20% I am working with internal people trying to help them see customer perspectives more realistically. I think I have a good handle on what customers want from us and how they see us as a result…

Whilst the PR team in Redmond wouldn’t have woken up at 5am, the EMEA people would have been well into their lunch so I call bs on that as an excuse why we have a blogger who is about to leave as our global rep, and who didn’t even watch the internal webcasts about the issue.

My fundamental point is for high profile scenarios like BBC newsnight you better be ready to be 100% on the ball and to fight fire with fire. It looked to me like we were not in the same league as the other guy. I don’t blame Robert for this – I blame our PR people for not being on top of the situation.
Daz

@# 30 – I work with customers, on their sites, 80% of the time. The other 20% I am working with internal people trying to help them see customer perspectives more realistically. I think I have a good handle on what customers want from us and how they see us as a result…

Whilst the PR team in Redmond wouldn’t have woken up at 5am, the EMEA people would have been well into their lunch so I call bs on that as an excuse why we have a blogger who is about to leave as our global rep, and who didn’t even watch the internal webcasts about the issue.

My fundamental point is for high profile scenarios like BBC newsnight you better be ready to be 100% on the ball and to fight fire with fire. It looked to me like we were not in the same league as the other guy. I don’t blame Robert for this – I blame our PR people for not being on top of the situation.
Daz

@# 30 – I work with customers, on their sites, 80% of the time. The other 20% I am working with internal people trying to help them see customer perspectives more realistically. I think I have a good handle on what customers want from us and how they see us as a result…

Whilst the PR team in Redmond wouldn’t have woken up at 5am, the EMEA people would have been well into their lunch so I call bs on that as an excuse why we have a blogger who is about to leave as our global rep, and who didn’t even watch the internal webcasts about the issue.

My fundamental point is for high profile scenarios like BBC newsnight you better be ready to be 100% on the ball and to fight fire with fire. It looked to me like we were not in the same league as the other guy. I don’t blame Robert for this – I blame our PR people for not being on top of the situation.
http://www.psynixis.com/blog/ Simon Brocklehurst

Daz,

I think you’re mistaken. Scoble’s understated, “I don’t look at it like that” responses to questions were a pretty effective way of dealing with questions about Microsoft’s business practices. A bit of humanity was just what was needed; not “fighting fire with fire” as you suggest. And that’s what Robert delivered.

The truth is – Microsoft is on shaky ground when it comes to questions relating to its business practices – it keeps getting taken to court by various governments, in case you hadn’t noticed. There’s no getting away from this; and trust me, some semi-slick, smart-ass executive going on TV and bleating denials/spinning BS won’t do the company any favours. I really hope MS has learnt something from Robert during his time at the company.
http://www.psynixis.com/blog/ Simon Brocklehurst

Daz,

I think you’re mistaken. Scoble’s understated, “I don’t look at it like that” responses to questions were a pretty effective way of dealing with questions about Microsoft’s business practices. A bit of humanity was just what was needed; not “fighting fire with fire” as you suggest. And that’s what Robert delivered.

The truth is – Microsoft is on shaky ground when it comes to questions relating to its business practices – it keeps getting taken to court by various governments, in case you hadn’t noticed. There’s no getting away from this; and trust me, some semi-slick, smart-ass executive going on TV and bleating denials/spinning BS won’t do the company any favours. I really hope MS has learnt something from Robert during his time at the company.
http://www.psynixis.com/blog/ Simon Brocklehurst

Daz,

I think you’re mistaken. Scoble’s understated, “I don’t look at it like that” responses to questions were a pretty effective way of dealing with questions about Microsoft’s business practices. A bit of humanity was just what was needed; not “fighting fire with fire” as you suggest. And that’s what Robert delivered.

The truth is – Microsoft is on shaky ground when it comes to questions relating to its business practices – it keeps getting taken to court by various governments, in case you hadn’t noticed. There’s no getting away from this; and trust me, some semi-slick, smart-ass executive going on TV and bleating denials/spinning BS won’t do the company any favours. I really hope MS has learnt something from Robert during his time at the company.
Pete

I guess I can understand why somebody involved with interacting with customers would think Robert’s appearance wasn’t the best. He didn’t exactly look like the typical PR-polished spokesperson. But that’s cool, because in that situation he was perfect. The audience for the programme wasn’t Microsoft’s customers or people interested in Exchange, SQL or what have you. This was a very brief discussion about Bill Gates on the day that one of the world’s most famous geeks said he was moving on from one of the world’s most famous companies. I was so pleased to see somebody like Robert on TV speaking for my company and I believe that in a situation like that somebody like Robert is far, far more appropriate than a typical bland, generic, stay-on-message-stay-on-message, godawful PR spokesperson.
Pete

I guess I can understand why somebody involved with interacting with customers would think Robert’s appearance wasn’t the best. He didn’t exactly look like the typical PR-polished spokesperson. But that’s cool, because in that situation he was perfect. The audience for the programme wasn’t Microsoft’s customers or people interested in Exchange, SQL or what have you. This was a very brief discussion about Bill Gates on the day that one of the world’s most famous geeks said he was moving on from one of the world’s most famous companies. I was so pleased to see somebody like Robert on TV speaking for my company and I believe that in a situation like that somebody like Robert is far, far more appropriate than a typical bland, generic, stay-on-message-stay-on-message, godawful PR spokesperson.
Pete

I guess I can understand why somebody involved with interacting with customers would think Robert’s appearance wasn’t the best. He didn’t exactly look like the typical PR-polished spokesperson. But that’s cool, because in that situation he was perfect. The audience for the programme wasn’t Microsoft’s customers or people interested in Exchange, SQL or what have you. This was a very brief discussion about Bill Gates on the day that one of the world’s most famous geeks said he was moving on from one of the world’s most famous companies. I was so pleased to see somebody like Robert on TV speaking for my company and I believe that in a situation like that somebody like Robert is far, far more appropriate than a typical bland, generic, stay-on-message-stay-on-message, godawful PR spokesperson.
Rob Atkinson

Totally agree with Pete’s comment. We ‘need’ more people like Rob working for MS. When I saw Rob put the camera on Steve and Bill during his Channel9 interview on Friday, I got to hear the same old rhetoric that Steve gives out, and then watched Bill do the same without looking directly into the camera. I glimpsed for a second the real Bill before he switched into PR mode. We need more self effacement and less corp. PR – that’s why people warm instantly to the likes of Rob

Rob Atkinson
Kilkenny, Ireland
Rob Atkinson

Totally agree with Pete’s comment. We ‘need’ more people like Rob working for MS. When I saw Rob put the camera on Steve and Bill during his Channel9 interview on Friday, I got to hear the same old rhetoric that Steve gives out, and then watched Bill do the same without looking directly into the camera. I glimpsed for a second the real Bill before he switched into PR mode. We need more self effacement and less corp. PR – that’s why people warm instantly to the likes of Rob

Rob Atkinson
Kilkenny, Ireland
Rob Atkinson

Totally agree with Pete’s comment. We ‘need’ more people like Rob working for MS. When I saw Rob put the camera on Steve and Bill during his Channel9 interview on Friday, I got to hear the same old rhetoric that Steve gives out, and then watched Bill do the same without looking directly into the camera. I glimpsed for a second the real Bill before he switched into PR mode. We need more self effacement and less corp. PR – that’s why people warm instantly to the likes of Rob

Rob Atkinson
Kilkenny, Ireland
http://www.meadroid.com/ Jerry Mead

Plus, the whole of Newsnight’s audience understand that Microsoft is an American company and that Gates is an American citizen. Hence Robert made a much more appropriate spokesperson that some anonoymous EAME droid with the ‘wrong’ accent.

When you need to make excuses for the Xbox 360 UK rollout cockup then roll out NeilHo by all means,but otherwise on a major US-centric story such as this EAME doesn’t really matter.
http://www.meadroid.com/ Jerry Mead

Plus, the whole of Newsnight’s audience understand that Microsoft is an American company and that Gates is an American citizen. Hence Robert made a much more appropriate spokesperson that some anonoymous EAME droid with the ‘wrong’ accent.

When you need to make excuses for the Xbox 360 UK rollout cockup then roll out NeilHo by all means,but otherwise on a major US-centric story such as this EAME doesn’t really matter.
http://www.meadroid.com/ Jerry Mead

Plus, the whole of Newsnight’s audience understand that Microsoft is an American company and that Gates is an American citizen. Hence Robert made a much more appropriate spokesperson that some anonoymous EAME droid with the ‘wrong’ accent.

When you need to make excuses for the Xbox 360 UK launch cockup then roll out NeilHo by all means, but otherwise – on a significant US-focused story such as this – EAME doesn’t really count.
http://www.meadroid.com/ Jerry Mead

No third re-write, I promise
http://www.meadroid.com/ Jerry Mead

Plus, the whole of Newsnight’s audience understand that Microsoft is an American company and that Gates is an American citizen. Hence Robert made a much more appropriate spokesperson that some anonoymous EAME droid with the ‘wrong’ accent.

When you need to make excuses for the Xbox 360 UK launch cockup then roll out NeilHo by all means, but otherwise – on a significant US-focused story such as this – EAME doesn’t really count.
http://www.meadroid.com/ Jerry Mead

No third re-write, I promise
Duncan Smeed

Folks can judge how well Reobert did by checking out the Newsnight program. I took the liberty of producing a TinyURL – http://tinyurl.com/s9bhw – to the video stream. Not tested on anything other than my iBook so hopefully it’ll work out OK for the rest of you.

Duncan
Dunbar, Scotland
Duncan Smeed

Folks can judge how well Reobert did by checking out the Newsnight program. I took the liberty of producing a TinyURL – http://tinyurl.com/s9bhw – to the video stream. Not tested on anything other than my iBook so hopefully it’ll work out OK for the rest of you.

Duncan
Dunbar, Scotland
Duncan Smeed

Drat. Sorry about the typo Robert!
Duncan Smeed

Drat. Sorry about the typo Robert!
http://www.darrenstraight.com/blog Darren Straight

Hey thanks for that Duncan, for those of you who dont have real player, check this link out for windows media player:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_4670000/newsid_4679900/bb_wm_4679986.stm
http://www.darrenstraight.com/blog Darren Straight

Hey thanks for that Duncan, for those of you who dont have real player, check this link out for windows media player:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_4670000/newsid_4679900/bb_wm_4679986.stm
http://www.darrenstraight.com/blog Darren Straight

Sorry should of included a tiny url instead, my bad!

http://tinyurl.com/mcq32
http://www.darrenstraight.com/blog Darren Straight

Sorry should of included a tiny url instead, my bad!

http://tinyurl.com/mcq32
http://www.bizwiki.cn/nigel/ nigel

sorry for beeing refused the pingback because of the gfw, from china. Good choise from BG, and the same as you said, he just be the most telant man who both of us have met before.
http://www.bizwiki.cn/nigel/ nigel

sorry for beeing refused the pingback because of the gfw, from china. Good choise from BG, and the same as you said, he just be the most telant man who both of us have met before.
Elvis Pelfrey

@47. I don’t think Daz was asking for a PR hack. The BEEB wanted someone with insight on Gates so they chose a blogger that is leaving the company? And a blogger that by his own admission has only had 3 meetings with Gates in his 3 years at MS. And all of those scheduled? Are you telling me that of the 60,000 people employed at MS that a more knowledable and experienced person, someone that had had more than 3 meetings with Gates and more than 3 years experience at Microsoft couldn’t have been found?. I’m not blaming Scoble. From what I can tell he would sell his soul for such publicity. I just don’t find it credible that Scoble is the most insightful or knowledgable person they could have found.

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