How Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and others make winning bets

Twenty-five years ago, more than a decade before the debut of the iPhone, a different piece of technology had people lining up outside stores around the world: Microsoft's Windows 95.

"Everything was mayhem," recalls Brad Chase, the former Microsoft executive who was in charge of marketing the operating system. "This was the product that ended up ushering computers and Microsoft and arguably Bill Gates into the mainstream. Everybody wanted to know everything about it."

"One time I even went on press tour and tried to calm everybody down because I wanted them to know Windows 95 would not solve world hunger," he jokes.

But beyond the sheer hype, Windows 95 was the culmination of Microsoft’s strategy -- the company’s bet that there would be a market for a computer on every desk and in every home (and running Microsoft software, executives would add privately.)

Chase explores the ingredients of successful business strategies in his new book, "Strategy First: How Businesses Win Big, published today, with examples from across the world of business and technology.

On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, Chase analyzes the strategies of today’s tech giants, explains the components of effective strategies, and talks about the role of strategy in addressing challenges facing the world (a topic he also explores in this column on how companies can advance racial justice.) As a bonus, he tells the inside story of how he struck the deal with the Rolling Stones to supply the iconic track for the Windows 95 advertising campaign.

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