BUSINESS

Today @microsoft is shutting down @Skype — it makes me incredibly sad, but I am not surprised. Microsoft bought and killed Skype, plain and simple. It is what should be labeled as corporate murder. I could write a ph.d dissertation on this — for now this is all I have to say. Microsoft didn't know how to nurture Skype, and its bureaucracy killed one of the most iconic brands of the new century. Skype was what Whatsapp would become. Here is just a small sample set of what Skype was to culture, which should help you understand how powerful a brand it has been. • In 2010 movie, The Social Network, Zuck's character is on a Skype call. • In 2012, in Skyfall villain Raoul Silva uses Skype-like video calls to plot nefarious things. • In The Office (U.S.) – Jim and Pam rely on Skype for their long-distance marriage. • In Breaking Bad – Walter White’s lawyer, Saul Goodman, often uses Skype for secretive communications. • In Parks and Recreation – Ben Wyatt uses Skype to communicate with Leslie while working in Washington, D.C. It is a good lesson in how bad middle management can destroy good acquisitions. I have never met a Skype manager on Microsoft's side who had any imagination. Most were such "drones" and had creativity that even a red clay brick would come across as genius. I wonder how Skype would have fared under the @satyanadella regime. One of the true iconic digital brands, it had enough data for them to train their audio and video AI models. Look at what @Meta does with @WhatsApp. For me, @skype was a great story. I covered the hell out of it. I was on the story of its first deal when it was bought by eBay. I covered it as a startup. I broke the story when Microsoft bought it. This has been one of my favorite startups to write about. Plus, it allowed me to have some good times with @nzennstrom and Janus Friis. So many memories around this company and the friends I made along the way. RIP. We shall miss your blue icon.

→ View original post on X — @jordannovet, 2025-02-28 16:30 UTC