Recent Press

In a game show-like setting, 14 fledgling nonprofit and for-profit ventures competed for $175,000 in grants and investments Monday night at Seattle's first ever Social Impact Fast Pitch. "I think Seattle has a deep ethic around innovation and around doing good," said Will Poole, a former vice president at Microsoft and the SVP Seattle lead partner and fast pitch organizer. "By bringing together the things that are most important to people in one community, we have really touched on something that connected people."

"Social Innovators" make pitch, win grants at Seattle Center.

More than 600 people are expected at the Social Innovation Fast Pitch event tonight at Seattle Center's Fisher Pavilion, where 14 ventures are making pitches in the final round of the event. The event's theme is "New Ideas for Social Impact," and presenting ventures include services for organic farmers, special-needs students, alternative energy and K-12 teachers. Winning non-profits will share awards totaling $100,000. Awards of $75,000 are available for winning for-profit ventures. Judging is by a panel with members from 11 different business, education and philanthropic organizations.

Social Innovators: Puget Sound investors and donors want to hear your pitch

“Social innovation” champions are working in intriguing new ways for the betterment of education, the environment, health and wellness, and living in the world today. You say you haven’t heard about them? You will. In recognition and celebration of this growing movement, a group of Puget Sound-area philanthropists and investors — led by former Microsoft Senior Vice President Will Poole — is providing a way to both nurture and reward the best and brightest “social entrepreneurs” with grants and investments.

Pengala launched: A made-for-India, made-in-India, learning solution

Pengala, an Indian learning technology company has launched a new way for students -- urban and rural -- to learn intuitively using technology... The new entity has been jointly started by two technocrats with a strong Microsoft connection: Pradeep Singh, founder and co-chairman, Pengala. Pradeep has earlier founded Aditi Technologies, a prime solution provider for Microsoft platforms and Talisma, a Customer Relations Management (CRM) software leader both with a Bangalore presence. The other founder-Co-Chairman of Pengala is Will Poole, formerly Corporate VP of Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential Group. He is also a co-chairman of Virtual Desktop leader, N Computing.

NComputing bets big on Indian market

NComputing, known for its low-cost computing solutions in the education space, is betting big on India. Recent customer wins like Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) along with state government contracts in education have made the country its second biggest market after the US and the company’s co-chairman Will Poole says he expects to see more growth in 2010.

NComputing to Advance Multiuser Computing with Microsoft

NComputing, a global leader in desktop virtualization, announced that it has entered into an agreement with Microsoft to align with the Microsoft Windows Server technology platform for multiuser computing. NComputing has made a commitment to develop the next generations of NComputing vSpace software products to take advantage of current and future Microsoft Server operating systems for multiuser computing. Microsoft fully supports this effort and will provide technical support during NComputing's engineering development efforts.

Microsoft to schools: Share a PC

... The approach is similar to one taken by NComputing, a start-up run by former e-Machines CEO Stephen Dukker. Will Poole, the former Windows executive who also led Microsoft's emerging markets efforts for a time, serves as NComputing's co-chairman. NComputing sells Windows and Linux-based systems to both schools and businesses.

Punjab Launches IT Labs Project (The International News)

"The Government of Punjab will save over Rs10 million per month in electricity charges as NComputing devices use only one watt of electricity as compared to 110 watts or more for a typical PC. We have reduced the number of PCs being purchased and the cost of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) has also been drastically reduced."

UW TechTransfer Announces Mentors (Xconomy)

The University of Washington’s Tech Transfer department officially announced its first crop of entrepreneurs in residence (EIRs) and LaunchPad advisors for startups. The EIRs (half-time to full-time) are gaming guru Alex St. John, biotechie Deborah Kessler, and finance and energy expert Jeff Canin. The startup advisors (1-2 days a month) include Joe Eichinger, Bill Gossman, John Hansen, Brad Harlow, Michael Hovanes, Will Poole, Chris Porter, and Sterling Wilson. [Link to UW release here.]

Ex-Microsoft VP Will Poole Looks to Take a Few Good Companies Global (Xconomy)

If you’re interested in creating technologies for developing countries, or involved with a Web-based software startup in the Northwest, you definitely want to know Will Poole. OK, that covers a lot of people, but it’s not an overstatement.

Look Out OLPC: A Microsoftie Jumps to NComputing (Business Week)

With Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child initiative falling far short of its stated goals for bridging the digital divide, a far less well-known company called nComputing seems to be making steady progress towards putting the power of personal computers into the hands of economically disadvantaged kids around the world. The company’s CEO, Stephen Dukker, says that more than a million people are now using nComputing’s technology—mostly through deals with school systems in rural US states and places like Vietnam and Macedonia.

Microsoft Refugee Becomes a Social Technologist (New York Times)

Will Poole, a veteran Microsoft executive, is leaving the company at the end of this month to become a technology evangelist of sorts. Computing, he says, is finally becoming sufficiently powerful and inexpensive enough that it can really help tackle “social and economic problems and has the potential to do it at scale.”

Africa's Unlimited Potential (UP World Updates)

Over the past two weeks, I’ve been in Africa to participate in a variety of activities supporting Microsoft Unlimited Potential’s efforts to bring the benefits of technology to the next 5 billion people. The continent continues to show strong economic progress. In fact, Africa has seen the highest growth rate in a decade - according to the International Monetary Fund, growth averaged 6.5% in 2007. For our part, Unlimited Potential has been doing its level best to contribute to this great progress through our work in Africa over the past year.

Another Windows Veteran to Leave Microsoft (ZDNet)

Will Poole, a Microsoft Windows veteran — and most recently, Corporate Vice President in charge of the company’s Unlimited Potential group — is retiring, according to sources who asked not to be named. Poole, who has been at Microsoft 12 years, previously was the Senior Vice President in charge of the Windows Client business during Microsoft’s development of Windows Vista.

At Microsoft, Seeking the Next Billion Computer Users (CNet)

Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer got Microsoft its first billion customers. It's Will Poole's job to get the next billion.
Poole, who co-leads Microsoft's emerging-markets push, is chartered with enabling the company's goal of allowing 1 billion more people to access computing technology by 2015.

Unlimited Potential in Central and Eastern Europe (UP World Updates)

It’s been almost exactly six months since I helped introduce the expansion of Unlimited Potential in Beijing, China last April. There’s been a lot of amazing progress since then towards our goal to bring the benefits of technology to the five billion people who are currently underserved. Yet we’ve still just begun the journey. Orlando and I and the team have been busy travelling all over the world—introducing new products & programs, meeting with governments, NGOs, partners, and educators, and visiting the people and communities who are the ultimate focus of our work.

What is Microsoft's Unlimited Potential? (eWeek)

Overnight, Microsoft announced a bold, new initiative to increase revenue in emerging markets. Goal: Create 1 billion new computer users. The announcement is complex, so we are dedicating several posts to explanation and analysis. This first one focuses on the what, while subsequent posts will look at the how and the why. Microsoft announced the initiative in Beijing, with a cadre of attending executives, including Chairman Bill Gates and Will Poole, corporate vice president of the Market Expansion group.