[guptaneil]

Interesting that it’s explicitly limited to B2B startups.

Is there a feeling that B2C isn’t a “real” business? Or maybe because B2B startups are more likely to be acquired by larger companies, thus absorbing Microsoft’s stack?

[frankdenbow]

I work at Microsoft for Startups.

We are focused on B2B companies (for now) because those are the companies we can best support.

Microsoft has a vast partner network, enterprise field sales team, and marketplace, where mostly B2B customers interact.

We decided to leverage that network for startups in order to push sales their way (hence the $1BN in sales pipeline we are pushing in 2020 to startups), in addition to the other technology benefits (Azure, Dynamics, Office 365, Power Platform, Github, etc).

Eventually we will come up with a focused solution for B2C businesses, but for now, we realize our limitations and are focused on where we can best be helpful!

Info in BIO if you have any questions!!

[maddyboo]

Not just B2B, but the business must be “Seed, Series A, B, or C stage (or validated equivalent)” funded.

I’m not entirely sure what “validated equivalent” entails, but I take it to mean they’re interested in VC-funded companies, not bootstrapp{ed,ing}, angel-funded, or crowd-funded companies

Your acquisition hypothesis seems quite likely to me; it would be naïve to believe that Microsoft would offer such value out of the kindness of their hearts.

I don’t want to sound bitter: If one has a business that qualifies and is okay with adopting a Microsoft stack, it seems like a great value. However, let’s not give MSFT too many PR creds for being a selfless charitable organization who is ‘looking out for the little girl’ in business, because they’re simply not. They’re a for-profit corporation.

[frankdenbow]

Frank here, I work at Microsoft for Startups.

Validated equivalent means that you don't necessarily need to be a company on the fundraising path in order to make it into the program.

So if a self-funded company comes to us and shows they have sales traction, then we can take them to our field sales team, make a target list of companies, and get them intro'd to the right accounts to close deals.

No, this is not out of the goodness of our hearts (although I do know my team has good hearts also :).

The point of the program is to get companies on Azure (a strong platform from a technical perspective), and the best way to keep companies on Azure is to provide value via technology and sales.

If you're closing more deals with us, you will have to consume more Azure in order to service those deals.

Win, meet win.

P.S: On the side, I run a community for profit-driven entrepreneurs who have not raised venture: http://inflectioncommunity.com

[awad]

I suspect it's because Microsoft's core DNA is B2B so they're able to justify an accelerator and the subsequent resource pull for it by going that route. Your latter suspicion is also not unfounded either I'd bet.

[frankdenbow]

Definitely because of the core DNA of the company, and structurally how the business model of Microsoft works.

[bpodgursky]

The MS - for - startups page is pretty clear that Microsoft wants the startups they help to be helpful for _their_ customers down the road. So they want the startup to ideally play nicely with Azure / Office365 / GitHub / other Microsoft properties.

The funding thing is a bit restrictive (speaking as a currently-bootstrapping founder), but I understand that it would be very challenging filtering out scammers and not-serious users otherwise. It's easy to put up a nice-looking website and then spend the (pretty generous) credits on unrelated work.

I don't think anything here is especially nefarious, given how public they are about the restrictions and goals. Think of it as closer to an accelerator than a charity, if it helps frame the program better in your mind.

[frankdenbow]

We support bootstrapped/self-funded founders!!!

I even created a community for these types of companies http://inflectioncommunity.com

Maybe that wasn't clear from the language, but the thought is that we can only really introduce you to sales leads once you've figured out product market fit.

If you don't have product market fit and a sales rep starts introducing you to leads, it's not going to end well for anyone.

It's not really about scammers (I can't remember an internal conversation that centered around people scamming the program), more about making sure it's going to be useful partnership.

[bpodgursky]

Oh, noted, my bad. Yeah, that's not the read I got from the website, but I appreciate the correction. Definitely aware of those resources now though!