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Ex-Lotus Exec Heads Microsoft Incubation Effort
Reed Sturtevant will head new Microsoft concept development unit.
Microsoft recently tapped Reed Sturtevant, a Lotus, RadNet and Idealab vet, to spearhead concept development in its spiffy new Cambridge, Mass., facility.
Microsoft is beefing up its East Coast presence with the new office. The high-rise building along the Charles River is about two blocks from Lotus Development's old headquarters building. It's also conveniently -- and not coincidently -- close to the MIT campus.
The office also houses some of the Softgrid staff that came into the fold when Microsoft bought Boston-based Softricity and its virtualization know-how in 2006.
Sturtevant has little to say about his plans: "I'm just getting my feet wet, learning about this organization. But yes, we're outside the existing [Microsoft] business units, and yes, we're doing work with Ray [Ozzie]'s group."
One part of his marching orders is to help incubate new technologies and ideas. "We're looking at new ways to come up with products and services," he notes.
According to a spokesman, Sturtevant reports to Jack Ozzie, who as general manager of concept development reports to his brother Ray Ozzie. The latter Ozzie is chief software architect for Microsoft.
Microsoft hosts a number of incubation efforts. "Microsoft Research does the longer-term stuff. Then each of the divisions has its own incubation teams focusing more narrowly on their businesses, and then there's the stuff Jack and his team are doing, which is across groups," the spokesperson says.
The Ozzie brothers and Sturtevant all spent time at the independent Lotus Development Corp., and stayed for a while after IBM Corp.'s acquisition of Lotus in 1995. The Ozzies worked on Symphony and Lotus Notes, while Sturtevant designed Freelance Graphics and helped launch InterNotes.
Most recently, Sturtevant was CTO for EONS Inc., a social networking company for people over 50. He has also been managing director and vice president of technology for Idealab, the product incubator started by Bill Gross. And he co-founded RadNet -- a collaboration software company -- and RadioAMP, according to his bio.
About the Author
Barbara Darrow is Industry Editor for Redmond Developer News, Redmond magazine and Redmond Channel Partner. She has covered technology and business issues for 20 years.