Martin Andrew Taylor

Martin Andrew Taylor is an Operating Principal at Vista Equity Partners,[1] as well as the President of Vista Consulting Group. He was the former senior executive Corporate Vice President of Windows Live and MSN at Microsoft,[2] acting as Steve Ballmer’s Chief of Staff for many years.[3]

Martin Andrew Taylor
Born
Kansas City Missouri, United States
Alma materGeorge Mason University
OccupationPresident, Vista Consulting Group
WebsiteStaff Bio at vistaequitypartners.com

Life

He attended George Mason University as an Economics major in Fairfax, Virginia.[4]

Microsoft

Taylor joined Microsoft in 1993 and rose to head of its Caribbean subsidiary.[5] During this period, Taylor worked closely on several occasions with Steve Ballmer. In 2002, Taylor was hired as Ballmer’s chief of staff.[6] Later, he was named director of business strategy and contributed to the reorganization of Microsoft into seven business groups.[4]

In 2003, he became head of the team to steer Microsoft's David-and-Goliath battle against Linux.[7] He spent the next several years helping redevelop Microsoft Windows software to better compete with Linux. His work to start a marketing campaign called “Get the Facts”.[8] The campaign mainly focused on cost of ownership,[9] but later included security, reliability, and interoperability.

In March 2006, he was hired as corporate vice president of Windows Live and MSN marketing, and oversaw the creation of Windows Live Messenger (formally MSN Messenger) and the testing of over 20 new Windows Live services.[10]

In June 2006, just few months after the first official announcement of Windows Live and only days before the release of Windows Live Messenger 8.0, Microsoft announced they were "parting ways" with Taylor.[11][1]

Vista Partners

In December 2006, Taylor joined Vista Equity Partners.[2][12]

References
  1. Todd Bishop (June 21, 2006). "The Martin Taylor mystery". Seattle PI. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  2. Vista Equity Partners http://www.vistaequitypartners.com
  3. "Leading Microsoft's Linux Attack: Q&A With Martin Taylor". CRN. 2004-04-01. Retrieved 2011-1-5
  4. Dudley Brier (April 11, 2005). "Plugged in to Microsoft's biggest rival". Seattle Times. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  5. Ina Fried (2006-06-20). "Key Ballmer adviser leaves Microsoft". cnet. Retrieved 2011-1-7
  6. Benjamin J. Romano (2006-06-21). "Microsoft vague on departure of key Windows Live leader". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2010-11-6
  7. Parmy Olson (2006-06-21). "Ballmer Bids Adieu To Windows Live Exec". Forbes. Retrieved 2011-1-5
  8. Todd Bishop (2004-10-28). "Ballmer argues against Linux". Seattle PI. Retrieved 2011-1-7
  9. "New Research Challenges Performance and Cost Perceptions Surrounding Linux in Mainframes and Application Development". Microsoft. 2003-10-15. Retrieved 2011-1-6
  10. "Windows Live Messenger Marks Milestone in Software-Based Services for Microsoft". Microsoft. June 19, 2006. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  11. Luigi Lugmayr (2006-06-21). "Another Microsoft Exec Steps Down - Martin Taylor". IFU News. Retrieved 2011-1-6
  12. Dudley Brier (April 23, 2007). "Martin Taylor update: he's working with another Vista". Seattle Times blog. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
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