Microsoft turns 50 Today

Today marks 50 years since Paul Allen and I officially  started Microsoft. Back then, we were just two kids obsessed with computers, convinced that software could unlock a better future—and determined to make that future happen.

We dreamed of a computer on every desk and in every home. In 1975, that sounded like a pipe dream to most people who didn’t even know what a computer was, let alone why they’d want one. But we believed that if we could make this technology accessible and useful, it could change the world.

And it did.

What started as a crazy idea between childhood friends became a company that helped spark the personal computing revolution. That revolution has transformed how people work, create, and connect across every industry and every country.

To think that Microsoft has been part of half a century of progress—from floppy disks to cloud computing, from DOS to AI—is surreal. I feel incredibly lucky to have been part of that journey. I only wish Paul were here to take it all in, too. But I’m deeply grateful to everyone who helped make the dream he and I shared a reality: from early pioneers like Steve Ballmer to today’s visionary leaders like Satya Nadella—and, of course, the many brilliant people who have worked at Microsoft along the way.

To celebrate this milestone, I wanted to share something special: the code that started it all. Altair BASIC was the first software Paul and I ever sold—and the first product Microsoft ever made (back when we still spelled it "Micro-Soft," with a hyphen). It remains the coolest code I’ve ever written. You can learn the story behind it on Gates Notes now—and even download the original source code yourself to see how it all worked.

Thanks, as always, for being an Insider—and for being part of this journey, too. Here’s to the next 50 years.

Tony Surtees - thank you for your tremendous contribution to Australian Innovation

Today marks the end of Tony Surtee’s  tenure as Chair of the Entrepreneurs Program Committee at the Australian Federal Department of Industry, Science and Resources of Industry, Science, and Resources. 

Tony in his humble way said

 “It has been a privilege to serve in this role for two terms as Chair and four terms since July 2015, with my term concluding today.

During my time in this position, our dedicated team facilitated the selection of grant funding recipients for over 640 businesses in Accelerating Commercialisation (AC), conducting merit assessments totaling more than $300 million. Additionally, the Business Research Innovation Initiative (BRII) successfully tackled 27 challenges from 20 government agencies, providing over $38 million in funding to 84 innovative businesses to enhance service delivery across various Federal Government Agencies.

I am immensely grateful to my colleagues and team members who contributed their expertise, industry knowledge, and diverse skills to support entrepreneurs in their ventures. These entrepreneurs exemplify Australian innovation and resilience, and it has been our goal to assist them in navigating the challenges of establishing new enterprises. On average, each business that accessed grant funding was able to add 7 new staff members, fostering growth and opportunity.

I extend my heartfelt thanks to all my colleagues, team members, and Ministers of Industry for their unwavering dedication and collaboration throughout these years. The experience of working together to identify deserving recipients of commercialisation and innovation grants has been enriching both professionally and personally.

Thank you to Steve Telburn, Carrie Hillyard AM, Bessi Graham, Rachael Neumann, Jan Bingley, James Williams, Paul Hunyor, Peter Bradd, Mitchell Hooke, Peter Riddles, and Nicola Hazell for their invaluable contributions and support.”

We look forward to working with you , Tony , to nurture innovation in Australia and globally for many years to come

Onwards and upwards 🚀

What’s a great piece of advice you would share with your younger self?

Photo :- Robyn and Maya in Paris  

Great gem 💎 posted by my friend 

Farid Zaki 

When you have a dream that you can't let go of, trust your instincts and pursue it. 

But remember: Real dreams take work, They take patience, and sometimes they require you to dig down very deep. Be sure you're willing to do that - Harvey Mackay 

#Inspiration

#Motivation

#Leadership

Great comment by Harleen Sohana

So often, we expect things to happen overnight, but when you’re willing to put in the time and effort, it becomes so much more fulfilling.

Ivan Kaye’s  💎 gem 

They say it takes 20 years to become an overnight success!!

#perseverence #resilience 

Share your 💎 gem :) 👇 below 

FarmCap raising $100m agri fund

FarmCap founded by Jonathan Weinstock , is a non - bank lender  that lends to farmers and agricultural assets

The firm is raising $100 million for its inaugural FarmCap Private Credit Agricultural Mortgage Fund (Diversified) to lend to Australia’s thriving agri sector, and has $40 million worth of deals under offer

The Agricultural sector  is predicted to grow from $82 billion in farm production to $100 billion by 2030.

Potential Investor returns 

Potential investors have been told to think of 9.5 per cent to 11.5 per cent in annual return – or 5 to 7 per cent over the cash rate – from a portfolio that will include first and second-mortgage loans. 

How the Fund will earn a living 

The Fund Manager  will charge base fees of 1.75 per cent, and a 15 per cent performance fee after a minimum return of 4 per cent over the bank bill swap rate.

The Ideal Farmer Client

The typical borrower is a farmer seeking up to $15 million, to be paid back over six months to 24 months, to fund broadacre, irrigated cropping, livestock and horticulture needs. 

Shiperoo partners with aus post to disrupt the logistics and shipping market

Congrats to the amazing founders of Shiperoo with endless energy - supply chain gurus Nishan Wijemanne 🇳🇿  and Rizan Mawzoon  and to the amazing team at Auspost (who have just taken a 25pc stake  ) led by Gary Starr , and the chairman Paul Greenberg.

This team is creating  the uber and airbnb for shipping and logistics 

Brothers, Gabby Leibovich and Hezi L.  have been supporting the growth of shiperoo from day 1, and  the sky is the limit with the disruption of  #logistics and #returns and f the massive growth of #ecommerce in Australia.

Shiperoo is a 3rd party logistics company that thinks and executes outside the box, and is working together  with Australia's leading box mover - Australia Post - to make logistics and shipping more efficient and cheaper for retail and ecommerce 

“You don't need to run your warehouses, employ people or buy forklifts, Shiperoo can do it all for you. Stick to what you know best : marketing and sales of your amazing products.” Says Gabby Leibovich

Shiperoo runs 3 robotic warehouses in Melbourne and Sydney 

David Sacks - the Burn Multiple

https://sacks.substack.com/p/the-burn-multiple-51a7e43cb200

David Sacks of PayPal, Twitter and All in game talks about a burn multiple

Two simple ways to measure capital efficiency are the Hype Ratio and Bessemer’s Efficiency Score:

1. Hype Ratio = Capital Raised (or Burned) / ARR
2. Efficiency Score = Net New ARR / Net Burn

David  think Bessemer has the right idea but prefers to flip the numerator and denominator, so the ratio is an annualized version of the Hype Ratio. 

He  calls this the Burn Multiple:

Burn Multiple = Net Burn / Net New ARR

In other words, how much is the startup burning in order to generate each incremental dollar of ARR?

The higher the Burn Multiple, the more the startup is burning to achieve each unit of growth. 

The lower the Burn Multiple, the more efficient the growth is.

For venture-stage startups, these are reasonably good rules of thumb:

For example, Q1 just ended and it’s time for a board meeting. The startup reports that it burned $2M in the quarter while adding $1M to its ARR. That’s a 2x Burn Multiple — reasonable for an early-stage startup. On the other hand, if the company burned $5M in Q1 to add $1M of net new ARR, that’s a terrible Burn Multiple (5x). It should probably cut costs immediately. That company is spending like a later-stage company without delivering later-stage growth.

Too many startups report their growth without contextualizing it as a function of investment. If extraordinary investment (3x burn or more) is required to deliver that growth, it’s an indicator that product-market fit isn’t quite what it appears to be or there’s some other problem in the business

These are some of the things that can affect the burn multiple and your business

For example:

• A gross margin problem — If the company spends too much on COGS in order to deliver the product or service, its burn will increase rapidly as it scales. If there’s not operating leverage in the business, the Burn Multiple will not improve with scale.
• A sales efficiency problem — If CAC is prohibitive or sales productivity is diminishing, burn will increase relative to new ARR, causing the Burn Multiple to worsen even though growth continues.
• A churn problem — Churn will net against the denominator of the Burn Multiple, causing the multiple to increase. A leaky bucket makes it hard to grow efficiently.
• A growth challenge — If growth is stalling, the company may seek to compensate by spending more on marketing, give-aways, discounts, or promotions. That will be picked up in a higher Burn Multiple, as burn rises faster than new sales.
• A founder leadership problem — If the founder lacks the skill or will to control burn, that will show through in the Burn Multiple.

Burn Multiple by Stage

The Burn Multiple should improve as the startup matures. 

For example, a seed stage company might have a Burn Multiple of 3 because it just started selling. After the Series A, it might drop to 2. After the Series B, when the sales team should be operating at scale, the expectations for efficiency increase even more. 

Eventually, for a company to become profitable, burn must reach 0, which implies that the Burn Multiple should also approach 0 over time.

If the Burn Multiple is going in the wrong direction as the startup matures, that’s a indicator that something is wrong, even though headline growth might still be increasing in nominal terms.

What Founders Can Do

1. they should keep salaries and expenses low in the early days — 

2. strengthen the impression of product-market fit for when they go out to raise a venture round.

3. cut costs, the Burn Multiple doesn’t care about sunk costs and always gives founders the chance to improve.

4. It be worth giving up some revenue (e.g. unprofitable growth) if it brings the Burn Multiple down to a much healthier ratio.

It’s not just about growth  but the efficiency of growth .

It’s an indicator that incremental spend is working 

As everyone in the startup ecosystem scrutinizes their runway and makes tough decisions about how to extend it, the Burn Multiple is a useful rule of thumb for founders and investors alike to keep in mind.

Trustai raises $4m - led by OIF Ventures a win for Cx

Sarel Roets,  Ryan Kohler and David Shein 

Founders of Trusst AI , CX veterans Sarel Roets and Ryan Kohler has raised a seed round of  $4 million led by OIF ventures .

What does TRustAI do

TrusstAI implements autonomous agents that integrate into customer systems, cloning your best workers, 24/7, powering automation and reducing costs. 

TrusstAI empowers the intelligent workforce by managing, analysing, automating and personalising customer interactions in any language or channel, learning and adapting in real time. 

 

It analyses customer data, helping businesses to better understand their needs and streamline internal processes through continuous optimisation., resulting in 

• a reduction in churn, 
• a continuous increase in sales and 
• greater customer retention and [net promoter score]

“We’re incredibly excited to be backing Sarel and Ryan,” David Shein, partner at OIF, said.

“Their deep domain expertise, combined with the best-in-class product they’ve built, puts them in a fantastic position to take on what is an immense opportunity for disruption in the CX space.”

🌾 The Future of Agribusiness: Innovation, Resilience, and Growth 🌍

My friend Zsolt Nagy is arguably one of the most connected humans on the planet.

He has various onterests around the world 🌍, including an agribusiness in Slovakia .

Here is his takeouts from a mastermind of 168 agribusiness leaders and innovators from around the world at a high-level strategic forum, , where they  tackled some of the most pressing challenges and groundbreaking opportunities shaping the future of agriculture.

🌾 The Future of Agribusiness: Innovation, Resilience, and Growth 🌍

This wasn’t just a program—it was a global exchange of ideas, exploring how we can future-proof agribusiness through innovation, sustainability, and strategic adaptation.

🔥 Key themes that shaped our discussions:

🌍 Climate Resilience – The impact of shifting weather patterns on crop yields and how adaptive farming can mitigate risks.

📊 Data & Technology – Precision farming, AI-driven decision-making, and automation as the foundation of modern agribusiness.

🌾 Sustainability & Consumer Demand – How transparency, regenerative practices, and alternative food systems are reshaping the industry.

💼 Strategic Business Models – Agility, market diversification, and value-chain collaboration as tools for long-term success.

What truly set this gathering apart were the real-world case studies, offering deep insights into the transformations happening across Europe and Slovakia. From agritech-driven efficiency in Central Europe to the rise of biogas as a sustainable energy source, the message was clear—small, smart changes drive exponential impact.

💡 Key takeaways as an agribusiness expert:

🔸 Technology is no longer optional—it’s the competitive edge that will define the next generation of agricultural success.

🔸 Collaboration is power—supply chain resilience depends on stronger partnerships between farmers, processors, and retailers.

🔸 Adaptability is survival—those who embrace new revenue streams, sustainable models, and consumer-driven changes will lead the industry.

With agriculture in Slovakia and Europe undergoing a major transformation, the opportunity to drive meaningful change has never been greater. 🚜💡 From integrating renewable energy to expanding precision agriculture, I am more motivated than ever to apply these insights and push the boundaries of what’s possible in our industry.

🌟 What trends or innovations do you see shaping the future of agribusiness in 2025? Let’s connect and discuss!

#Agribusiness #Innovation #Sustainability #FutureOfFarming #AgricultureLeadership #AgriTech #Growth

Here is his LinkedIn  post