Microsoft Peddles Unused R&D To Eager Startups
from the beg-and-borrow dept
It sure has a magnanimous ring to it: Microsoft wants to license its "spare" technology to startups that can develop them fully into products. At least that the BBC's spin (which happens to be not that far from Microsoft's spin). But you have to wonder, why would someone want the leftover technologies that Microsoft doesn't want to develop itself? And who are these startups begging for Microsoft's table scraps? Indeed, it seems any deal to license these technologies would keep you securely on Microsoft's leash (complete with an ownership stake, royalties, or both). Perhaps some dogs are just happy to get taken home from the pound, regardless of what they're being fed.
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Other Industries do It
Let's take ExxonMobile. Let's say they have a domestic an exploration budget of $500M that will let them drill 500 domestic wells (just picking round numbers out of my hat). But they have oil leases for 600 wells that will expire this year - meaning that is if they don't drill on them, the leases just expire worthless.
So ExxonMobile does what is called a "farm out" of those extra 100 wells. They give the oil location and data to another oil company who drills it and then get a part of the return if the other company finds oil. This seems somewhat similar to what is being proposed here.
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Re: Other Industries do It
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could be interesting if done the right way
This could be a swift move on Microsoft's part if they make it interesting enough for the entrepreneurs, and don't insist on hogging most of the upside for themselves. Imagine if Xerox had done something like this in the '70s.
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I hope microsoft does give up some of it's R&D
I still miss the program and it was over 5 years ago it shut down
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