We had 10 million users, yet we got no respect at all from Redmond. Here's what any company that wants to be bought by Microsoft should know about the boys and girls from Redmond. First, it is an adversarial culture that makes progress only through constant infighting and bickering. They were fighting with each other in front of us. It was our first hint of what was to come.
Politeness is ignored and bitches are rewarded.
Everything is about power. For all the infighting, though, it is very hard for Microsoft to actually make progress from this violent internal dialog. The company moves forward by edicts from Bill Gates, but most of the debate among subordinates just generates friction and heat. The plan is constantly changing. Today Hotmail is primarily a way of shoveling new users into the MSN portal.