‘We don’t do anything non-profit’

Cliff Reeves, General Manager of Microsoft Corp. for Strategic & Emerging Business Team, was in Nepal recently to visit the Microsoft Innovation Centre. He looks after the social side of the business and works with young students and business leaders from all over the world. In an interview with Modnath Dhakal,from New Business Age, Reeves shared his ideas and views on Microsoft products, software piracy and IT entrepreneurship. 

Excerpts: 

What is the purpose of your visit to Nepal? 

This is not a special visit, I have come to see Allen (Allen Bailochan Tuladhar) and Microsoft Innovation Centre (MIC) in Kathmandu. We have more than one hundred MICs around the world and the Kathmandu centre, headed by Allen, is one of the strongest. We have opened 19 MICs in India and I am talking to the people working there. We have just organized MIC summit in Bangalore. We are also planning for a new MIC in Nepal too. 

How is Microsoft performing here, in Nepal? 

It’s doing very well. My focus is entirely on the start-ups, students and entrepreneurs. Therefore, I don’t know exactly about the sales and other areas. We are reaching a significant number of students and have collected significant number of facts in their employability. With programmes like Microsoft Student Partners, Microsoft Virtual Academy and the IT Academy, which actually helps with the certification of their qualifications, we are reaching to them. We are very pleased with the programme and its progress. 

Many people in South Asia and developing countries use pirated Windows operating system or other software because of its cheap price. 

What is your take on this? 

Piracy is the practical issue. Pirated software is not worth paying for because it does not come with the extra support that we provide. On the other hand, the cost of software has gone down dramatically. We do want to deal with the piracy, it’s illegal. We do want to get revenue from our products. But we don’t think piracy is our primary problem. Ultimately, people will go for the quality software.

What strategies has Microsoft been putting in action to solve the piracy problem? 

That is not my area of focus. I focus on making sure that the people who need the software, get it. These are the people who are in school or in universities or who are looking for an assistance to set up their businesses. I make sure that they have access to it. We give our software to developers without any cost for three years. Many of the small companies fail. Therefore, we don’t want to be the reason behind their failure because of the high cost of the software. When they succeed, they pay a good premium to our software. It’s a good investment. 

Has your business improved here after the development of Unicode Nepali software? 

I don’t know much about it, but Microsoft believes that language projects help to boost the sales of software. Inclusion is a good business. 

Where is Microsoft in the competition of mobile OS among Android, Apple, Simbion and Blackberry? 

We are number two in India. But worldwide Android is the volume leader, Apple has the profitability and Microsoft had a late entrance to the market. But we have a long history of endurance, which is supported by the best technology in the world. There are very few companies in the world that have had more than one major product success. Microsoft had two or probably three successful products: Windows, Office and the game console X-box. 

You are running various non-profit activities in Nepal like distribution of software to students, language development etc., is it your CSR or business enhancement strategy? 

It’s not non-profit. I don’t think we do anything non-profit. It should be for profit . Our relationship with the start-ups is based on both direct and indirect value to Microsoft. The indirect value to Microsoft is that, as economies grow, we grow. If you have a good boat and the water level is going up, you both are going up. So we are very interested in building good relationships with universities, which is where the talents come from. We want good talents. That engagement with the students and start-ups is vital for us. In this course we make sure that the students have access to our technology with very advantageous prices or for free. In the long run, they are going to be our customers. There is a balance of altruism and profit-motive. And I think that is the right thing for the business. 

How do you track the young talents? 

We often work with the universities. We run Microsoft Student Partners (MSP) programs in various universities. The students who are interested in technology can apply for MSP. We accept the eligible students and train them for free. They often end up being evangelists. They often teach their class and earn some respect from their fellow students. We hire some of them. We also take some help from these young energetic people to improve our technologies. 

Programs like IT Academy, Microsoft Virtual Academy, MIC etc., inspire students to develop something new. MVA provides the training materials online. We help young students to become entrepreneurs and IT professionals. 

What is your success-mantra to those young aspiring entrepreneurs who face constraints financing their business? 

I would say money is not the primary problem. It was so a decade ago but the situation has changed a lot. There are new elements that make a successful start-up. First, and the obvious, is the Internet. It reached to almost anybody with almost zero friction and zero cost. It means that market, technology and customers are accessible. Promotion is less expensive. Because of social networking, you will get the customers without employing the sales force. And then the technology itself has got incredibly powerful. Now, it takes lot less codes and fewer tools. The tools you need are freely available. It has helped to narrow down the gap between the idea and the successful market. To get a big business idea is hard but your ability as an entrepreneur to develop a program, to get your first consumer, to improve it, to refine it and to market it will not be spoiled by the cost. The cost is just plummeted. So my advice is not to focus on finances but to get the viable product in the hands of your customer. If you can do that, then you can go to the investor. Investors are always ready to finance good ideas and products.