From: Satya Nadella
Sent: ‎6/‎15/‎2016 8:59 PM
To: Jason Lind
Subject: RE: Draft ScottGu
Thanks Jason

Sent from my Windows 10 phone

From: Jason Lind
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2016 6:52 PM
To: Satya Nadella
Subject: FW: Draft ScottGu

This is the kind of relationship I had with your predecessor, and if he had listened to me Microsoft would be in better shape than it is today. Please don’t repeat his mistakes and take me seriously. I am the biggest consultant you’ve ever had and you’ve never paid me a dime.

Thanks,

Jason Lind
EVP / Chief Software Architect
Lind Innovation
jason@lind-i.com
c. 414.788.2820

From: Jason Lind
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2016 8:43 PM
To: 'scottgu@microsoft.com' <scottgu@microsoft.com>
Subject: FW: Draft ScottGu

But did you know about this?

Thanks,

Jason Lind
EVP / Chief Software Architect
Lind Innovation
jason@lind-i.com
c. 414.788.2820

From: Jason Lind
Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2010 12:03 PM
To: Steve Ballmer <Steve.Ballmer@microsoft.com>
Subject: RE: Draft ScottGu

I greatly appreciate your reply and thank you for your understanding about earlier this year.

Thanks,

Jason Lind
President / Chief Software Architect
Lind Innovation
jason@lind-i.com
www.lind-i.com
414.788.2820

________________________________________
From: Steve Ballmer [Steve.Ballmer@microsoft.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 3:00 PM
To: Jason Lind
Subject: RE: Draft ScottGu
Thanks for the input

From: Jason Lind [mailto:jason@lind-i.com]
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 4:45 PM
To: Steve Ballmer
Subject: Draft ScottGu

Mr. Ballmer, I’d first like to apologize for my previous emails from March, I wasn’t well and have since recovered. I really hope it didn’t earn me a place on your blocked list, and I’d very much appreciate a timely reply to confirm that.

I read today that Ray Ozzie will be leaving your organization and you plan to eliminate the Chief Software Architect position he has held. As you stated in your press release it is a very unique position and that is why I urge you not to eliminate it. Microsoft has been a major driving force in defining what software architecture means and I believe that it is very appropriate that you have a position that recognizes that.

Microsoft of course popularized the title, however many organizations are now filling positions of Chief Software Architect. I currently hold the title in the company I founded as I felt Architect had the connotations to best describe how I work, and as a Microsoft first organization how I work is in no small part a byproduct of the products and research of your organization. I am not alone; many organizations large and small study Microsoft’s operations and apply them to their own. By eliminating the position from your organization you are effectively deemphasizing the importance of software architecture at the enterprise scale.

While I am obviously not privy to your internal reasons for deciding not to fill this position, I suspect it has something to do with the gravitas required to successfully operate under such a broadly defined mandate, which of course industry legends Bill Gates and Ray Ozzie were able to do.  I can only venture to guess you feel that you don’t have any candidates that would be worthy of such a title.

I believe that you do, and that is Scott Guthrie. ScottGu is a legend in the Microsoft developer community and has consistently demonstrated a unique insight when it comes to building elegant developer solutions and promoting their use throughout the industry.

If he was 20 years older there’s no doubt he would be in the same sentence as Gates or Ozzie. He has the outstanding and unique vision that the position of Chief Software Architect requires, and I can think of no one inside or outside your organization who is better suited or qualified for the position.
I realize there are politically realities inside Microsoft that would make this challenging to sell to your senior management, as he is technically junior to many of them, however I think that they would eventually understand as they would realize they do not have the street credit to succeed in such a position.

Please seriously consider appointing ScottGu as your new Chief Software Architect.

(To be clear I don’t personally know Scott, and this is completely unsolicited)

Thanks,

Jason Lind
President / Chief Software Architect
Lind Innovation
www.lind-i.com
414.788.2820 (cell)
jason@lind-i.com