Steve and I

 

So I read some place on the internet  recently that Steve Ballmer has left Microsoft. I have to say I was a little surprised , not to mention everything that is being said about him , gosh I mean its a lot

My first memory of Steve was over a decade ago , like 13 years in fact, it was around 7 in the evening and it was a gorgeous Seattle summer evening and in the distance I could see him trying very hard to play basketball. It was obvious he totally sucked and so I tried to help him out with a few pointers but the flaw in that plan of course was that I sucked too and so you know it didn't really go anywhere but even back then I was stuck by his steely resolve and never say die attitude.

After the game we stopped at the local dive bar to share a drink and even then I was impressed at his ability to simplify and yet have deep insights. I will never forget as he looked at his plate and sighed “How do you tell the difference between calamari and pig rectum answer me that “

Definitely a sign of thing to come !

The next time I saw him was almost an year later at a Halloween Party where he had come as the ghost of stack ranking. I didn't get it then and I don't get it now but again his infectious energy and ability to throw chairs across the room while screaming “developer developers developers” was truly whimsical charming and magically surreal  . Turned out he was testing a spot for a viral campaign but the Seattle Urban developers League but still…

As an aside I left MSFT in 2006 and one of my definite regrets is that I did not stop by to say bye to him,  I was sure he would be leaving too and well while it took him 7 years to figure out what I had about MSFT ( he always was a little slow ) at least he got it in the end . There have been some rumors about how his exit allowed to him to reach a compensation model somewhat different than mine but I mean come on this was never about the money for either me or Steve ( Editors Note : Wait What now !)

Entrepreneur, thought leader, visionary, forward thinking genius, manger extraordinaire , Numbers man etc are all phrases ( some of which have even been used to describe Steve) but for me everything about the man could be distilled and boiled down to a single moment when I really think the very essence of his being shone through , We were at a Strip club in Lake City way celebrating a product launch and he said to me

< Editors Note : On Close examination of the facts and recollections in this article it has just emerged that the author has been talking about Steve KxrczxBallmer  a polish Lithuanian émigré from Estonia in the late 1990’s. Mr KxrczxBallmer  has confirmed that the “Kxrczx” portion of his name is silent and not pronounced. We regret any inadvertent confusion this may have caused and continue to stand by our original position viz. the author is an overpaid idiot .>