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Today's episode is a Simply Tech LIVE interview recorded May 6th, of this year 2021, featuring my co-host, Ali Mazaheri, and our special guests, coming to us from Microsoft's High Tech Pursuits Unicorn Team - a special team focused on accelerating, partnering, and supporting the enterprise of the future.

The discussion will feature Ken Miller, GM of Microsoft's West Region Intelligent Cloud team and leader of the Unicorn team we're talking with today. Shaloo Garg will be joining us in the discussion, Shaloo is the Managing Director of Growth Stage Startups and Unicorns at Microsoft. We'll also be featuring Matt Hughes in the discussion, Matt is a High Tech industry leader at Microsoft, and the combination of these (3) guests will cover a vast array of really fun, top of mind, and critical topics across the high tech industry, and, how value will be, and continues to be captured and developed with founders, venture capitalists, and new joint partnerships in the world of fast moving and emerging technologies.

If you have any interest in the future landscape of emerging tech as a founder, an investor, or an organization looking to seek differentiated ways to think about the growth stage and unicorn ecosystem, you will very much enjoy this conversation.

Thank you for listening, and now we bring you Microsoft's High-Tech Pursuits Unicorn Team.

***Navigate the episode***

[09:32] High tech trends and transformations across the technology industry

[12:00] Exciting tech related market making partnerships and acquisitions

[13:31] Social impact and other emerging technology industry headwinds to pay attention to

[15:23] High tech at Microsoft – what is means, who are the customers, and what the future enterprise looks like

[20:21] Additional forecasts for market needs and opportunities in the high tech space

[25:26] What consumers demand from the high-tech industry and how the consumer is shaping innovation

[27:51] The Microsoft ecosystem and support environment for high tech organizations

[32:53] Transformational change across business and culture: how to navigate, cope, and seize net new opportunities

[38:47] Microsoft’s Unicorn Initiative and thematic areas that empower the Start-up

[41:37] Shaloo’s experience as a woman leader at Microsoft, and women founder perspectives in the growth stage start up eco-system

[46:18] Why founders should think about partnering with Microsoft

[51:43] Advice and guidance for women founders

[55:39] Discussions around engaging across the high-tech community, and opportunities to discover innovation through the Microsoft Technology Centers

***Resources and Links***

Contact our guests:

-Ken Miller: https://www.linkedin.com/in/millerken/

-Shaloo Garg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaloo-garg/

-Matt Hughes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthughes4/

The Marsen Group - https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2021/03/16/microsoft-acquires-the-marsden-group-a-leader-in-rapid-industry-innovation/

Nuance Communications - https://news.microsoft.com/2021/04/12/microsoft-accelerates-industry-cloud-strategy-for-healthcare-with-the-acquisition-of-nuance/

Microsoft Technology Centers - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/mtc

What is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC)? - https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/spac.asp