“Windows Live is under some heavy change, reorganization, pullback, and general paralysis and unfortunately my ability to perform, hire, and execute was completely frozen as well.”
That’s Niall Kennedy, the RSS/Atom guru hired by Microsoft to make its newsfeed technology click.
“If we had the resources I truly believe we could have tackled the number of users Hotmail, Messenger, Spaces, or even Internet Explorer might supply, and then ask for more by opening up the platform to the world. I was able to borrow resources here and there, but there was no team being built around the platform in the foreseeable future. I could have stayed at Microsoft, waited for the other 85% of the company to ship their products, and then hope support for my group might be back on track again, but I didn’t want to sit around doing little to nothing until Vista, Office, and Exchange ship. It’s easier to get funding outside Microsoft than inside at the moment, so I am stepping out and doing my own thing.”
Thus, after just five months of trying to fix Redmond, that inveterate independent, Niall Kennedy, is moving on down the road… and in the process, telling us everything we need to know about the future of Windows Live.
Microsoft will survive, but its inability to make a home for an energetic entrepreneuer like Kennedy speaks volumes. He’s exactly the kind Redmond should kill to keep.
I, for one, can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.
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