There are bloggers and there is Robert Scoble, the man who I think did a lot more good than all PR experts put together to the image of the Giant of Redmond. He is leaving Microsoft to join Podtech.net. Scoble, interestingly, in his early days was a Mac Evangelist.

Scoble one of 3000 odd bloggers at Microsoft enjoys an unmatched following thanks to his plain-speak and honesty. Though one of his fellow bloggers Niall Kennedy also has a good brand but not to match that of Scoble’s. Niall now is supposed to fill the shoes of Scoble at Microsoft.

(Image Courtesy:http://www.flickr.com/photos/inju/).

Scoble shared this information with the readers.

“This is a rapidly-evolving part of my life. I just made this decision and it got out before I was completely ready to talk about it. – Robert”

He maintained high regard for the company he worked for three years. From Scobelizer:

“First, I love Microsoft and Microsoft did not lose me — at least as a supporter and friend. I am not throwing away my Tablet PC or my Xbox or my other Microsoft stuff.

Second, my management team is awesome and I don’t have a beef with them at all. They have ALWAYS supported me. I have, in my pocket, a corporate American Express card and they never have questioned any of my expenses. The reason I shared rooms with other bloggers is because I always treated Microsoft as a startup. I don’t believe it’s proper to waste shareholder resources if you don’t need to….”

Lessons to be learnt here; work on your personal brand and opportunities will come to you. For Robert first it was an uber-cool job (not the title but the content) at Microsoft and now the new opportunity as a videoblogger at PodTech.net

But do not forget that Robert has been at it for almost 6 years now. Before these opportunities cam his way he worked his butt in regular jobs that most of the living (human) being do.

Agreed it is hard work. But hard work pays most of the times with a little bit of smart thinking sprinkled over it. It doesn’t matter whether you are doing a start-up or in a job or you are a student giving a vent to your thoughts and working what you are passionate about will never hurt. Who knows what opportunity it will bring to your doorstep?

Many bloggers are asking questions like, what will Robert blog about after leaving Microsoft. My friends who are asking these questions better be aware that he used to be a blogger much before he joined Microsoft. The links below should help;

- What Robert was up to in February 2001
- Robert’s first blog
- Robert’s Radio Weblog

And recently;

- Robert says Hello to the world
- Robert moving to PodTech.net

Share/ comment how you find the posts here and keep watching this space for more on the big and small happenings on planet earth and beyond.

Somebody’s loss is somebody’s gain.

The point in discussion is Steve Jobs in year 1986 when he purchased erstwhile computer graphics division of Lucas Films for $ 10 million from George Lucas and established it as an independent company christened “PIXAR”.

Lucas had to sell it after a cash flow crunch resulting by 1983 divorce to his first wife. Steve Jobs at that point was an ousted CEO of Apple. Since that purchase stock of Steve jobs have moved only in one direction – up, up and up. Lucas also went to create magic with his Star War series and smart negotiations for licensing deals.

Gain is OK but Steve must have never imagined that his $ 10 million investment in a company that made high end technology hardware would make him a billionaire and later one of the largest share holders of Disney.

Beyond money, the fact that Pixar has been able to repeat this success year after years is amazing. Pixar seems to have perfected this art. How they do it remains a mystery. Still for the curious, this link should provide a peep into the process.

PIXAR’s early experimentation came in form of specially commissioned commercials like Volkswagen’s “La Nouvelle Polo” and Pillsbury’s “plump”. They continued creating such commercials till 1996.

Going back, In 1991 Pixar and Disney teamed up to develop, produce and distribute up to three feature-length animated films.

In 1995 Pixar went pubic and raised 140 million USD as the biggest IPO of the year.

Same year “Toy Story” hit US theaters on Thanks-Giving weekend as the first fully-computer animated feature film. It was the highest grossing film of that year making more than $190 million in domestic box office receipts and 362 million worldwide.

In 1997 PIXAR took experimentation to the next level by animating skin and cloth through its short firm “Geri’s Game”. Same year Disney and Pixar entered into a new agreement to jointly produce 5 movies.

Pixar continued its winning spree with “A Bug’s Life” in 1998, “Toy Story 2” in 1999, “Monsters Inc.” in 2001, “Finding Nemo” in 2003 and “Incredibles” in 2004.

“Toy Story 2” was credited as first film in the history to be entirely crated, mastered and exhibited digitally. “Finding Nemo” became 8th highest grossing film of all time in 2003.

Pixar is all set to prove its prowess again with “Cars”, its new gig which will release in US theaters in a few hours from now. So far the reviews have been like “It is the first great movie of the summer” – TIME. “Thunderous Excitement” – Rolling Stones.

It will easily be the highest grosser this weekend what needs to be seen is the records that it will break or make. All said the most important message is reflected by punch line of the film which says LIFE IS A JOURNEY, ENJOY THE TRIP.

If you are a mobile game freak, there is something interesting for you here.