OneCast Tue, 09 Dec 2025 03:39:01 +0000 Tue, 09 Dec 2025 03:39:01 +0000 Libsyn RSSgen 1.0 http://onecast.libsyn.com/podcast http://onecast.libsyn.com/podcast https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/3/2/a/f/32af65993cdf0900/OneCast_Album_Art.png OneCast false episodic no OneCast 009 - Deborah Hanson: OneNote's Building Move & Team Space OneCast 009 - Deborah Hanson: OneNote's Building Move & Team Space Fri, 05 Aug 2016 03:27:06 +0000 Deborah Hanson, Executive Assistant to Eran Megiddo for the OneNote, EDU and Wunderlist teams, gives a behind the scenes look at the building move process, discusses impacts of team space on the org so far, and a look at ahead at what's to come.

Shownotes

  • History of Deborah - 1:15
  • How Deborah came to Microsoft - 2:36
  • Difference between Business Admin (BA) and Executive Assistant (EA) - 7:09
  • How the move to team space came about - 8:58
  • Hunt for a new building: the saga - 10:56
  • Building 6 is found, now what? - 17:58
  • What's feedback been on team space so far? - 20:52
  • OneNote Picnic 2016 is coming! - 30:32
  • Headphone program - 31:36
  • Building improvements still to come - 33:38
]]> Deborah Hanson, Executive Assistant to Eran Megiddo for the OneNote, EDU and Wunderlist teams, gives a behind the scenes look at the building move process, discusses impacts of team space on the org so far, and a look at ahead at what's to come.

Shownotes
  • History of Deborah - 1:15
  • How Deborah came to Microsoft - 2:36
  • Difference between Business Admin (BA) and Executive Assistant (EA) - 7:09
  • How the move to team space came about - 8:58
  • Hunt for a new building: the saga - 10:56
  • Building 6 is found, now what? - 17:58
  • What's feedback been on team space so far? - 20:52
  • OneNote Picnic 2016 is coming! - 30:32
  • Headphone program - 31:36
  • Building improvements still to come - 33:38
]]> 35:49 false full Ian Mikutel OneCast 008 - Chris Pratley: OneNote's Origin Story OneCast 008 - Chris Pratley: OneNote's Origin Story Wed, 27 Jul 2016 03:52:55 +0000 Chris Pratley, founder of OneNote, tells the origin story for the product, what it was like launching OneNote v1, early design principles, the history of sync and ink, and what he's up to now after 22 years in Office as he leads Evoke Studio in Windows.

Shownotes

  • OneNote's origin story - 0:51
  • Chris writes Scribbler vision document - 5:40
  • Scribbler team is formed (thanks Word!) - 8:47
  • Chris' dirty secret on competitors - 14:42
  • OneNote's original product principles - 15:47
  • What OneNote v1 got the most wrong - 19:45
  • How ink came to OneNote - 22:50
  • The time we paid users to send us envelopes stuffed with notes - 25:37
  • Does Chris think ink will ever be mainstream? - 27:11
  • History of OneNote sync - 30:53
  • How did the OneNote team work in the early days? - 34:00
  • Office didn't "get" OneNote; how to deal with skeptics - 36:42
  • Launching OneNote - 38:58
  • Original OneNote price, coupon and gorilla marketing tactics - 41:11
  • NoteFile? Freeform? Sribbler? The process of naming OneNote - 42:42
  • What feature doesn't exist that you always wanted? - 45:52
  • What Chris is most proud of about OneNote - 49:30
  • Chris leaves Office after 22 years - 50:57
  • Evoke Studio: Chris' new adventure - 53:07

Links

OneNote v1 name voting poster

]]> Chris Pratley, founder of OneNote, tells the origin story for the product, what it was like launching OneNote v1, early design principles, the history of sync and ink, and what he's up to now after 22 years in Office as he leads Evoke Studio in Windows.

Shownotes
  • OneNote's origin story - 0:51
  • Chris writes Scribbler vision document - 5:40
  • Scribbler team is formed (thanks Word!) - 8:47
  • Chris' dirty secret on competitors - 14:42
  • OneNote's original product principles - 15:47
  • What OneNote v1 got the most wrong - 19:45
  • How ink came to OneNote - 22:50
  • The time we paid users to send us envelopes stuffed with notes - 25:37
  • Does Chris think ink will ever be mainstream? - 27:11
  • History of OneNote sync - 30:53
  • How did the OneNote team work in the early days? - 34:00
  • Office didn't "get" OneNote; how to deal with skeptics - 36:42
  • Launching OneNote - 38:58
  • Original OneNote price, coupon and gorilla marketing tactics - 41:11
  • NoteFile? Freeform? Sribbler? The process of naming OneNote - 42:42
  • What feature doesn't exist that you always wanted? - 45:52
  • What Chris is most proud of about OneNote - 49:30
  • Chris leaves Office after 22 years - 50:57
  • Evoke Studio: Chris' new adventure - 53:07
Links

]]> 55:13 false full Ian Mikutel OneCast 007 - Itai Almog: Sticky Notes past, present and future OneCast 007 - Itai Almog: Sticky Notes past, present and future Fri, 22 Jul 2016 04:13:07 +0000 Itai Almog tells the origin story of Sticky Notes coming to OneNote, why we're investing in short-form notes, what v1 looks like, how the Sticky Notes team is unique, and what the Sticky Notes future looks like.

Shownotes

  • History of Itai - 0:58
  • Sticky Notes origin story - 3:47
  • How many people use the current Sticky Notes? - 5:39
  • How Sticky Notes came to OneNote - 7:02
  • Why are we investing in the short-form note space? - 11:39
  • How much is Windows involved in Sticky Notes? - 17:13
  • What Sticky Notes v1 looks like - 18:22
  • How the Sticky Notes team is unique - 23:23
  • The future for Sticky Notes - 27:20
  • Amazon Echo compete and Sticky Notes - 29:00
  • Rapid-fire questions for Itai
    • What keeps you up at night? - 33:14
    • What makes you excited to jump out of bed in the morning? - 34:10
    • What's the most surprising thing you've learned in the last 30 days? - 36:28
]]> Itai Almog tells the origin story of Sticky Notes coming to OneNote, why we're investing in short-form notes, what v1 looks like, how the Sticky Notes team is unique, and what the Sticky Notes future looks like.

Shownotes
  • History of Itai - 0:58
  • Sticky Notes origin story - 3:47
  • How many people use the current Sticky Notes? - 5:39
  • How Sticky Notes came to OneNote - 7:02
  • Why are we investing in the short-form note space? - 11:39
  • How much is Windows involved in Sticky Notes? - 17:13
  • What Sticky Notes v1 looks like - 18:22
  • How the Sticky Notes team is unique - 23:23
  • The future for Sticky Notes - 27:20
  • Amazon Echo compete and Sticky Notes - 29:00
  • Rapid-fire questions for Itai
    • What keeps you up at night? - 33:14
    • What makes you excited to jump out of bed in the morning? - 34:10
    • What's the most surprising thing you've learned in the last 30 days? - 36:28
]]> 40:00 false full Ian Mikutel OneCast 006 - Eran Megiddo: FY16 review, FY17 preview, LinkedIn acquisition OneCast 006 - Eran Megiddo: FY16 review, FY17 preview, LinkedIn acquisition Thu, 14 Jul 2016 22:48:12 +0000 Eran Megiddo, OneNote, Wunderlist and EDU's Corporate Vice President, gives a review of FY16, a preview of FY17, talks the importance of summer for EDU, and what opportunities exist with the recent LinkedIn acquisition.

Shownotes

  • Intro of Eran - 1:34
  • Eran's first software sale at age 12 to a Dutch TV station - 2:25
  • Dropping out of university and joining military intelligence - 4:00
  • Was Eran a spy? - 5:44
  • Eran founds his first startup - 6:50
  • Starting the 2nd startup - 9:13
  • Microsoft acquires Eran's company - 12:00
  • How Eran learned marketing on a flight back from NY from one book - 13:46
  • FY16 review - 14:55
  • Neutralizing Google software with our web apps - 17:37
  • RS1 improvements - 18:49
  • Deployment cycles impact in EDU - 19:35
  • Neutralize Google hardware - 20:30
  • Eran offered EDU job 3 times in his career before; why he said yes this time - 24:50
  • FY17 look ahead - 29:30
  • Bots & OneNote - 36:35
  • Should OneNote find another differentiator? - 39:33
  • Need to maintain leadership position on Ink and Canvas - 39:49
  • Wunderlist goals for FY17 - 41:20
  • EDU goals for FY17 - 42:42
  • Summer for EDU...it's go time - 47:15
  • LinkedIn acquisition - 49:03
    • Did $26B make sense? - 51:33
    • Strategic alignment - 53:00
    • EDU impact of LinkedIn: Lynda - 53:30
  • Rapid-fire questions for Eran - 56:32
    • What keeps you up at night? - 56:48
    • What makes you excited to jump of bed in the morning? - 58:28
    • What's the most surprising thing you've learned in the last 30 days? - 59:42
]]> Eran Megiddo, OneNote, Wunderlist and EDU's Corporate Vice President, gives a review of FY16, a preview of FY17, talks the importance of summer for EDU, and what opportunities exist with the recent LinkedIn acquisition.

Shownotes
  • Intro of Eran - 1:34
  • Eran's first software sale at age 12 to a Dutch TV station - 2:25
  • Dropping out of university and joining military intelligence - 4:00
  • Was Eran a spy? - 5:44
  • Eran founds his first startup - 6:50
  • Starting the 2nd startup - 9:13
  • Microsoft acquires Eran's company - 12:00
  • How Eran learned marketing on a flight back from NY from one book - 13:46
  • FY16 review - 14:55
  • Neutralizing Google software with our web apps - 17:37
  • RS1 improvements - 18:49
  • Deployment cycles impact in EDU - 19:35
  • Neutralize Google hardware - 20:30
  • Eran offered EDU job 3 times in his career before; why he said yes this time - 24:50
  • FY17 look ahead - 29:30
  • Bots & OneNote - 36:35
  • Should OneNote find another differentiator? - 39:33
  • Need to maintain leadership position on Ink and Canvas - 39:49
  • Wunderlist goals for FY17 - 41:20
  • EDU goals for FY17 - 42:42
  • Summer for EDU...it's go time - 47:15
  • LinkedIn acquisition - 49:03
    • Did $26B make sense? - 51:33
    • Strategic alignment - 53:00
    • EDU impact of LinkedIn: Lynda - 53:30
  • Rapid-fire questions for Eran - 56:32
    • What keeps you up at night? - 56:48
    • What makes you excited to jump of bed in the morning? - 58:28
    • What's the most surprising thing you've learned in the last 30 days? - 59:42
]]> 01:02:25 false full Ian Mikutel OneCast 005 - Ron Mondri: Whiteboard, large screens, and Computex 2016 OneCast 005 - Ron Mondri: Whiteboard, large screens, and Computex 2016 Fri, 01 Jul 2016 00:26:53 +0000 Ron Mondri talks OneNote's whiteboard plans and strategy, designing for large screens, and impressions from his recent visit to the largest IT tradeshow in Asia, Computex.

Shownotes

  • Ron's backstory - 1:08
  • Computex impressions - 4:40
    • Observations on the conference
    • Learnings for whiteboard - 9:59
  • What is whiteboard and who is it for? - 11:49
  • Surface Hub vs. Whiteboard - 14:14
  • Strategy for large screens - 16:40
  • The whiteboard challenge - 18:07
  • The opportunity for OneNote - 24:17
    • Smart board competition in US - 27:21
    • International competition - 29:22
    • Why it matters to OneNote - 31:02
  • The future of large screen devices - 32:26
  • Voice & AI have arrived - are screens dead? - 35:06
  • FY17 whiteboard plan - 38:02
  • Rapid-fire questions for Ron - 43:27
    • What makes you excited to jump of bed in the morning?
    • What keeps you up at night?
    • What's the most surprising thing you've learned in the last 30 days?

Links

]]> Ron Mondri talks OneNote's whiteboard plans and strategy, designing for large screens, and impressions from his recent visit to the largest IT tradeshow in Asia, Computex.

Shownotes
  • Ron's backstory - 1:08
  • Computex impressions - 4:40
    • Observations on the conference
    • Learnings for whiteboard - 9:59
  • What is whiteboard and who is it for? - 11:49
  • Surface Hub vs. Whiteboard - 14:14
  • Strategy for large screens - 16:40
  • The whiteboard challenge - 18:07
  • The opportunity for OneNote - 24:17
    • Smart board competition in US - 27:21
    • International competition - 29:22
    • Why it matters to OneNote - 31:02
  • The future of large screen devices - 32:26
  • Voice & AI have arrived - are screens dead? - 35:06
  • FY17 whiteboard plan - 38:02
  • Rapid-fire questions for Ron - 43:27
    • What makes you excited to jump of bed in the morning?
    • What keeps you up at night?
    • What's the most surprising thing you've learned in the last 30 days?
Links ]]> 49:29 false full Ian Mikutel OneCast 004 - Becca Seerveld: Customer insights & data, empathy & using data in modern product development OneCast 004 - Becca Seerveld: Customer insights & data, empathy & using data in modern product development Thu, 30 Jun 2016 04:48:45 +0000 Becca Seerveld, Head of Customer Insights & Data, looks back on FY16 from a CI&D perspective, looks forward to FY17, and talks customers, experimentation, empathy and more.

Shownotes

  • History of Becca - 0:40
  • Data team experiment - 2:40
  • Look back on FY16 - 3:00
    • OneNote can now count!
    • Customer support
  • Driving empathy for customers - 6:06
  • Look forward to FY17 - 9:40
  • What the most successful concepts always include - 13:13
  • Do customers know what they want? - 13:48
  • Experimentation and instrumentation - 16:17
  • Using data in modern product development - 19:10
  • What do we attribute the rise of data to? - 29:17
  • How should the team operate to create data-driven products? - 32:13
  • Rapid-fire questions for Becca - 33:25
    • What makes you excited to jump of bed in the morning?
    • What keeps you up at night?
    • What's the most surprising thing you've learned in the last 30 days?
]]> Becca Seerveld, Head of Customer Insights & Data, looks back on FY16 from a CI&D perspective, looks forward to FY17, and talks customers, experimentation, empathy and more.

Shownotes
  • History of Becca - 0:40
  • Data team experiment - 2:40
  • Look back on FY16 - 3:00
    • OneNote can now count!
    • Customer support
  • Driving empathy for customers - 6:06
  • Look forward to FY17 - 9:40
  • What the most successful concepts always include - 13:13
  • Do customers know what they want? - 13:48
  • Experimentation and instrumentation - 16:17
  • Using data in modern product development - 19:10
  • What do we attribute the rise of data to? - 29:17
  • How should the team operate to create data-driven products? - 32:13
  • Rapid-fire questions for Becca - 33:25
    • What makes you excited to jump of bed in the morning?
    • What keeps you up at night?
    • What's the most surprising thing you've learned in the last 30 days?
]]> 38:03 false full Ian Mikutel OneCast 003 - Jeff Krauss: Engineering review, increasing agility & evolving how we work in FY17 OneCast 003 - Jeff Krauss: Engineering review, increasing agility & evolving how we work in FY17 Thu, 30 Jun 2016 04:40:39 +0000 Jeff Krauss, Head of Engineering, reviews FY16 from an engineering perspective, talks how we can increase agility, and the plan for evolving how we work in FY17.

Shownotes

  • Jeff's history at Microsoft - 01:18
    • From OneNote engineer #001 to Director of Engineering
    • Building one of the first services in Office
    • Writing "viruses" for the Office installer 
  • FY16 from the engineering perspective - 19:11
    • Measuring our progress
    • What are microservices? - 25:13
    • Improving client build times
  • A look ahead at FY17 - 35:35
  • Why aren't dev machines very mobile? - 39:13
  • The BXT model - 43:56
  • How can we increase our agility? - 48:10
    • Decreasing project sizes while increasing the ship cadence
  • Why are we restructuring the engineering team? - 55:03
  • Creating a more efficient team - 1:02:28
  • Learning from other teams - 1:10:23
  • What's the biggest challenges with our new way of working? - 1:12:13
  • Rapid-fire questions for Jeff - 1:15:23
    • What makes you excited to jump out of bed in the morning?
    • What keeps you up at night?
    • What's the most surprising thing you've learned in the last 30 days?

Links

]]> Jeff Krauss, Head of Engineering, reviews FY16 from an engineering perspective, talks how we can increase agility, and the plan for evolving how we work in FY17.

Shownotes
  • Jeff's history at Microsoft - 01:18
    • From OneNote engineer #001 to Director of Engineering
    • Building one of the first services in Office
    • Writing "viruses" for the Office installer
  • FY16 from the engineering perspective - 19:11
    • Measuring our progress
    • What are microservices? - 25:13
    • Improving client build times
  • A look ahead at FY17 - 35:35
  • Why aren't dev machines very mobile? - 39:13
  • The BXT model - 43:56
  • How can we increase our agility? - 48:10
    • Decreasing project sizes while increasing the ship cadence
  • Why are we restructuring the engineering team? - 55:03
  • Creating a more efficient team - 1:02:28
  • Learning from other teams - 1:10:23
  • What's the biggest challenges with our new way of working? - 1:12:13
  • Rapid-fire questions for Jeff - 1:15:23
    • What makes you excited to jump out of bed in the morning?
    • What keeps you up at night?
    • What's the most surprising thing you've learned in the last 30 days?
Links ]]> 01:21:28 false full Ian Mikutel OneCast 002 - March Rogers: Elevating design, BXT, UX framework & inclusive design OneCast 002 - March Rogers: Elevating design, BXT, UX framework & inclusive design Thu, 30 Jun 2016 04:33:21 +0000 March Rogers, Head of Design, talks about elevating the importance of design at Microsoft/OneNote, reflects on the BXT model, shares the latest on the UX Framework project, and what inclusive design is all about.

Shownotes

  • Mr. Roger's Design Team - 00:08
  • A look back at FY16 - 01:45
  • The life of March - 06:20
  • Making the Product Design team more efficient - 18:52
  • Elevating the importance of design - 21:41
    • Design at Microsoft
    • The history of design in the tech industry
  • The BXT model - 31:08
    • What's the ideal breakdown of Product Management, Product Design, and Engineering?
    • Product Managers: The CEO of a feature area
  • Redesigning OneNote as part of the UX Framework - 37:19
    • Aligning the design for a better user experience
    • Understanding the job the user is hiring you for, rather giving them a new job to learn
    • The notebook hierarchy
    • Dealing with change in software
    • Testing the UX Framework with real users
  • What does the UX Framework actually entail? - 50:09
  • Measuring the success of the UX Framework - 53:31
  • Inclusive design - 53:55

Links

]]> March Rogers, Head of Design, talks about elevating the importance of design at Microsoft/OneNote, reflects on the BXT model, shares the latest on the UX Framework project, and what inclusive design is all about.

Shownotes
  • Mr. Roger's Design Team - 00:08
  • A look back at FY16 - 01:45
  • The life of March - 06:20
  • Making the Product Design team more efficient - 18:52
  • Elevating the importance of design - 21:41
    • Design at Microsoft
    • The history of design in the tech industry
  • The BXT model - 31:08
    • What's the ideal breakdown of Product Management, Product Design, and Engineering?
    • Product Managers: The CEO of a feature area
  • Redesigning OneNote as part of the UX Framework - 37:19
    • Aligning the design for a better user experience
    • Understanding the job the user is hiring you for, rather giving them a new job to learn
    • The notebook hierarchy
    • Dealing with change in software
    • Testing the UX Framework with real users
  • What does the UX Framework actually entail? - 50:09
  • Measuring the success of the UX Framework - 53:31
  • Inclusive design - 53:55
Links ]]> 01:04:09 false full Ian Mikutel OneCast 001 - Darren Austin: OneNote's purpose, 2016 review, 2017 preview & monetization OneCast 001 - Darren Austin: OneNote's purpose, 2016 review, 2017 preview & monetization Thu, 30 Jun 2016 04:14:09 +0000 Ian chat's with Darren Austin, Head of Product, about OneNote's role in the creative process, a review of 2016, a preview of 2017's plan and more. 

Shownotes

  • Why OneCast was created - 00:15
  • OneNote's role in the creative process - 01:35
  • The Office timeline - 05:15
  • Lookback on FY16 - 09:00
    • Darren gives the team a letter grade
    • Top accomplishments
    • Areas where we have more work to do
  • Look forward to FY17 - 16:40
    • Darren quotes Bruce Lee, or tries to
    • Long-term accrue value to O365
    • Help Microsoft win in EDU
  • What does focusing on EDU really mean? - 22:50
  • Monetization - 24:29
    • Why does monetization matter?
    • How do different companies monetize? What are their motivations?
  • Darren on data - 30:03
    • Who is the most altruistic tech company in data collection?

Links

"Learn Excel" parody song by University of Texas at Austin professor

 

]]> Ian chat's with Darren Austin, Head of Product, about OneNote's role in the creative process, a review of 2016, a preview of 2017's plan and more.

Shownotes
  • Why OneCast was created - 00:15
  • OneNote's role in the creative process - 01:35
  • The Office timeline - 05:15
  • Lookback on FY16 - 09:00
    • Darren gives the team a letter grade
    • Top accomplishments
    • Areas where we have more work to do
  • Look forward to FY17 - 16:40
    • Darren quotes Bruce Lee, or tries to
    • Long-term accrue value to O365
    • Help Microsoft win in EDU
  • What does focusing on EDU really mean? - 22:50
  • Monetization - 24:29
    • Why does monetization matter?
    • How do different companies monetize? What are their motivations?
  • Darren on data - 30:03
    • Who is the most altruistic tech company in data collection?
Links

"Learn Excel" parody song by University of Texas at Austin professor

]]> 33:38 false full Ian Mikutel