Here are 10 actions I would suggest to the Microsoft Board of Directors to revitalize shareholder value.
1. Fire Steve Ballmer and replace him with an industry outsider.
2. Cut 10% of the workforce immediately
3. Target a 30% reduction of the workforce over a 2-3 year period
4. Eliminate low-margin products/divisions
5. Break-up the company and create some spin-offs
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft Small Business
- Microsoft Consulting
6. Create a new Linux/Cloud Services Division
7. Create a new Enterprise Open Source Services Division
2012-04-12 Update: Wow. Today Microsoft announced 'Microsoft Open Technologies', "a new wholly owned subsidiary"
8. Create a new $5B Micro-cap Start-up Angel Investor funding initiative
- Quarterly Demo Contests
- $500K each to [0-3] selected winners
- Over time, create 10,000 new start-ups, of which Microsoft shareholders would retain significant ownership.
9. Implement an "UP or OUT" Annual Review process.
10. Hire me as a Shareholder Value Creative Consultant
