Inspired by the visionary founders of our industry

No Prize for Pessimism by Sam Schillace is a thoughtful meditation on the importance of optimism in building and designing tech products – or any product, for that matter. Schillace is Microsoft’s Deputy Chief Technology Officer. He is the co-inventor of Google Docs, a product used by more than a billion people around the world. 

Through a series of insightful letters and reflections, Schillace shares his journey from the early days of personal computing to the forefront of AI innovation. This book delves into the mindset required for disruption and innovation, emphasizing the importance of optimism, experimentation, and a willingness to embrace the messiness of creation.

In his debut as an author, Schillace argues that optimism is crucial for innovation, contrasting it with the dangers of a pessimistic mindset which he believes stifles creativity and progress. Leadership, according to Schillace, is rooted in humility and trust. He warns against the “prima donna death spiral” where leaders fail to delegate, leading to team inefficiency. The author discusses the transformative potential of AI, emphasizing the need to integrate AI capabilities with traditional coding practices for effective product development. He explores the balance between speed and maintainability in coding, advocating for a pragmatic approach to software development. Schillace stresses the importance of humility in leadership, encouraging leaders to support their teams and prioritize collective success over personal ego. He identifies several emerging technologies with disruptive potential, including AI, quantum computing, and renewable energy solutions. Throughout, the author encourages readers to adopt a “What if?” mindset, fostering creativity and resilience in the face of challenges. 

Schillace shares personal anecdotes and lessons learned throughout his career, offering practical advice for aspiring innovators and leaders. No Prize for Pessimism is perfect for entrepreneurs, engineers, and anyone interested in the future of technology.

Marcus Fontoura’s career, and indeed this book, has largely been about the ethos needed to build powerful platforms.

A tech platform is a reusable system that implements a core piece of functionality, such as identity. In this case, an identity platform provides a solution for users to log-in to multiple services. Developers gain agility when using platforms, as they don’t need to implement the whole system from scratch and can focus on the new, differentiating innovations.

A platform, however, is an external dependency. Thus, using a platform implies teams taking a dependency on other teams. This requires coordination and collaboration. It is impossible to build the large-scale, complex systems of today without relying on platforms and their multiplier effect to build a scalable identity solution once and reuse it many times in all the company’s services. This means that modern technology organizations need to be highly collaborative, with all their sub teams interacting in an open way, in which ideas are generated, developed, and propagated in an environment that empowers the developers to be themselves and let their creativity flourish.

Platforms are the seeds of innovation and require their daily dose of creativity and collaboration to blossom into the systems that impact our lives and society in a positive way. Fontoura truly believes we can create a better world through technology and a platform mindset is the foundation.

8080 Books

Why a book imprint?

Books matter. In a deluge of data. In a bloat of blogs, a sea of social, and a maelstrom of email. Books will always matter.

They matter more than ever, especially when they can be produced and distributed more quickly than traditional publishing. They offer human intimacy at scale. That’s what happens when a writer speaks directly to a reader on the page.

They impart very precise knowledge and wisdom. Books build empathy. That’s what happens when a writer has the time and space to choose exactly the right word and phrase to communicate an idea. It’s what happens when a reader truly connects with a writer. We are especially interested in new and nontraditional writers and thinkers at 8080 Books.

Computing has become an essential ingredient in almost every endeavor on our planet. As students both of Microsoft and technology, our goal with 8080 Books is to publish original research, ideas, and insights at the intersection of science, technology, and business, and in doing so, help advance the discourse and debate. Our initial focus for titles includes: technology and the future; business process and productivity, and societal priorities in law, ethics, and policy.

Creating, building, and sustaining an idea or argument over tens of thousands of words while holding a reader’s interest is not the same as dashing off an email, a post, a video, or even a speech. A book anticipates counterarguments, skepticism, and is unafraid of calling bullshit on the current take of the day. Books require a different writer—and a different reader—than short-form. Books offer permanence and substance for future scholars, educators, and historians – to capture a moment in time.

This has been true for as long as humans have written, first for a handful of readers and later for millions. Technologies have always been an instigator. The invention of the mechanical clock led to the invention of time-based musical notation, which hastened the spread of music and musical innovations. The printing press led to the proliferation of printed products like books.

Technologies change the philosophical discourse. Telephones, televisions and the internet did that. And now AI is doing that. The Industrial Revolution came hand in hand with the Enlightenment. Subsequent technological revolutions required revisiting philosophical and ethical principles.

We aim to bring forward great content. But we also seek to accelerate the publishing process shortening the lag between the final manuscript and the book’s arrival in the marketplace. We seek to hasten the diffusion of knowledge. We are impatient and time sensitive. Technology has quickened the pace of almost every industry except publishing. This means that book-sized writing about tech transformations arrives after conventional wisdom has begun to gel. We don’t have all of the answers, but we know that more important ideas and arguments can travel faster than they do at the moment. Can they travel too fast? Of course, that already happens in abundance, but we seek to strike the right balance.

We plan to test and experiment with the latest tech to accelerate and democratize book publishing. We are customer-zero for Microsoft tech. We are building a rigorous editorial process: spot meritorious ideas and arguments fast, often from nontraditional authors, assist with manuscript development, invite internal and external reviews, live up to style and substance standards, and use the latest tech to assist in doing these things. Financially we will cover the costs of utilizing publishing professionals and donate the remaining revenue to nonprofits through Microsoft Philanthropies. Relevant books service our corporate mission.

Anyone and everyone are future readers and writers. That said, we anticipate that many of our readers and writers will come from these places: current, former, and future Microsofties, customers and partners, researchers, and policymakers.

We don’t pretend to be independent, but we recognize the importance of interdependence in our company, community, ecosystem, and economy. As such we value the freedom, purpose, and education of our authors and readers.

In many cases, our publishing will be an alternative to larger publishers with less focus. We will also seek to re-issue significant works and out-of-print books that are relevant to our communities.

Microsoft’s love for books dates to its earliest days. We’ve long maintained a professional library that every employee can access. Microsoft Encarta was one of the first digital books. And Microsoft Press has published quality instructional books for generations. Our road ahead is to identify leading-edge voices, ideas, trends, needs and, yes, concerns to inform our very deep and very wide readership across all industries and sectors.

We’d like to hear from you. What have we missed or overlooked in our charter for 8080 Books? Email us at [email protected].

Greg Shaw, Editor
Steve Clayton, Publisher