It's pretty impressive of Fred to talk openly about Microsoft being evil. Very few VCs would do that, because they wouldn't want to alienate such a powerful partner and/or potential acquirer for the startups they fund.
Founders: this is the kind of VC you want on your side.
"Microsoft messed with the technology industry for a decade..."
He's talking like it's past tense. OOXML was just a few weeks ago. They worked hard for that bad reputation. And honestly given the billions they've made, I'm not sure I'd choose different.
It's funny to see people making this argument. When was the last time that MS released anything truly new or made any "competitor" history? Netscape was a long time ago.
It’s easy to say that when never played on MSFT turf; asked anyone of those companies building plug-ins or Add-ins for their platform. Ask your self why the Europeans are so hard on MSFT these days >1 billion in fines.
Of course, it was "don't be evil", but that's just semantics. Mr. Buchheit (sp?) came up with that famous motto. He meant it literally, from what he says: don't be like the other guys. Don't be evil. I don't think that's the same as "be perfect", but at least try to have pretty good intentions -- that's far and away better than most big companies.
Founders: this is the kind of VC you want on your side.