Real memos, annotated passage by passage, then set against the dated record of what followed: which calls held up, which missed, and what is still open.
We too, are standing on a “burning platform,” and we must decide how we are going to change our behaviour.
8 notes · 4 sourced facts
Featured · Nokia · Feb 2011
Stephen Elop, CEO
Five months into the job, Nokia’s new CEO tells staff the company is standing on a burning platform, and that the fight is now between ecosystems, not phones.
35 memos
Procter & Gamble · 13 May 1931
Neil H. McElroy, Advertising department
A young P&G advertising man sets out the duties of “brand men” and their assistants, to win approval for more staff in the Promotion Department.
McElroy, who had joined P&G’s advertising department, became company president in 1948.
US Department of Defense (Internet Archive copy) · 1948
Annotated · 8 notes
Microsoft · 25 Jan 1994
J Allard
Allard tells five Microsoft executives that the internet is booming on Unix and the Mac, and sets out a three-phase plan to make Windows its main tool.
Chicago, the system Allard expected to put on the internet in 1994, went on sale as Windows 95 on 24 August 1995 after several delays.
TidBITS · 24 Aug 1995
Annotated · 9 notes
Microsoft · 26 May 1995
Bill Gates, CEO
Gates tells his executives the internet is now central to every part of Microsoft’s business, and names Netscape as a new competitor.
The trial court in US v. Microsoft found that Microsoft held monopoly power, and quoted this memo’s warning about Netscape.
US Department of Justice · 5 Nov 1999
Annotated · 10 notes
Microsoft · 27 May 1995
Ben Slivka, Engineer
An engineer’s detailed plan for treating the web as a platform in its own right, written the day after Gates’ memo.
Microsoft released Internet Explorer 3.0, at no charge, with the ActiveX controls and scripting its March preview had introduced.
Microsoft (Internet Archive copy) · 13 Aug 1996
Annotated · 9 notes
Amazon · 1998
Jeff Bezos, CEO
“It’s all about the long term”: Amazon will make investment decisions for long-term market leadership, not short-term profit.
Amazon still reprints the 1997 letter in its annual report; its 2025 revenue was $717 billion.
Amazon investor relations · 2026
Annotated · 8 notes
Google · 29 Apr 2004
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Co-founders
Filing to go public, Google’s founders tell investors they will give no earnings guidance, fund long shots and keep control through two classes of stock.
Six years after leaving day-to-day management, Page and Brin still held about 52.7% of Alphabet’s voting power through its 10-votes-a-share Class B stock.
Alphabet, Form 10-K (investor relations copy) · 31 Dec 2025
Annotated · 9 notes
Google · 2005
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Co-founders
In Google’s first annual report as a public company, Sergey Brin explains why it keeps launching products beyond search and sets out the 70-20-10 rule.
Alphabet’s 10-K for 2025 reports revenue generated on Gmail and Google Maps within Google Search & other, a line that brought in $224,532 million of $402,836 million.
Alphabet, Form 10-K (investor relations copy) · Feb 2026
Annotated · 8 notes
Sequoia Capital · 2 Sep 2005
Roelof Botha
Roelof Botha recommends that Sequoia invest $1m in YouTube’s seed stage, with a $4m Series A to follow, and sets out what could go wrong.
Thirteen months after the memo, Google agreed to buy YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock.
Google · 9 Oct 2006
Annotated · 9 notes
Microsoft · 28 Oct 2005
Ray Ozzie, CTO
Microsoft’s new CTO argues that internet services and ad-funded software will disrupt the company’s core business.
Microsoft unveiled Windows Azure, its cloud platform.
Microsoft · 27 Oct 2008
Annotated · 8 notes
Tesla · 2 Aug 2006
Elon Musk, Chairman of the Board
Two weeks after the Roadster’s unveiling, Tesla’s chairman explains on the company blog why a startup selling an electric sports car is really planning family cars.
Tesla reported 1.31 million vehicle deliveries for 2022, up 40% on the year before.
Tesla investor relations (Internet Archive copy) · 2 Jan 2023
Annotated · 9 notes
Yahoo · Nov 2006
Brad Garlinghouse, Senior vice president
A Yahoo senior vice president tells senior staff the company spreads itself like peanut butter across everything, and asks for a narrower focus, clear owners and deep cuts.
Verizon completed its purchase of Yahoo’s operating business on 13 June 2017, for about $4.48 billion.
Verizon · 13 Jun 2017
Annotated · 8 notes
Apple · Apr 2010
Steve Jobs, CEO
Apple’s public case for keeping Adobe Flash off the iPhone and iPad, and for keeping control of its own platform.
Adobe said it would stop updating and distributing Flash Player at the end of 2020.
Adobe (Internet Archive copy) · Jul 2017
Annotated · 9 notes
Microsoft · 28 Oct 2010
Ray Ozzie, Chief Software Architect
A week after announcing he would step down, Microsoft’s chief software architect grades his 2005 memo and describes a world of cloud services and simple connected devices.
Gartner reported that worldwide PC shipments fell 10 percent in 2013, the worst decline in PC market history.
Gartner (Internet Archive copy) · 9 Jan 2014
Annotated · 9 notes
Nokia · Feb 2011
Stephen Elop, CEO
Five months into the job, Nokia’s new CEO tells staff the company is standing on a burning platform, and that the fight is now between ecosystems, not phones.
Nokia sold its phone business to Microsoft; the sale closed on 25 April 2014.
Nokia · 25 Apr 2014
Annotated · 8 notes
Netflix · 18 Sep 2011
Reed Hastings, CEO
Netflix’s CEO apologises for how a price change was handled, and splits DVD rental into a separate service, Qwikster.
Netflix reversed the split: one website, one account, no Qwikster.
Netflix blog (Internet Archive copy) · 10 Oct 2011
Annotated · 9 notes
Facebook · Mar–Apr 2012
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO
Facebook’s CEO tells Instagram’s founder that how they engage now will decide whether they end up partners or competitors.
A federal court ruled for Meta in FTC v. Meta, the case over its purchases of Instagram and WhatsApp.
US District Court for DC (CourtListener) · 18 Nov 2025
Annotated · 9 notes
Facebook · 19 Dec 2012
Andrew Bosworth
Facebook’s ads engineering leaders frame a choice: open more of Facebook’s ad features to outside buyers through FBX now, or withhold them and build their own products fast.
Facebook confirmed it would shut FBX, saying Facebook Exchange spending had shifted to its own Dynamic Ads and Custom Audiences.
TechCrunch · 25 May 2016
Annotated · 9 notes
Facebook · 31 Oct 2013
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO
Facebook’s CEO writes that he is disappointed and frustrated, and that Facebook should prepare for news of its $6 billion offer for Snapchat to leak.
Instagram introduced Stories; Snap’s IPO filing later said the feature “largely mimics our Stories feature”.
Instagram Blog (Internet Archive copy) · 2 Aug 2016
Annotated · 5 notes
Facebook · 5 May 2014
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO
Facebook’s CEO sets out how Messenger will make money from businesses, and Sheryl Sandberg and Andrew Bosworth reply the same day.
Zuckerberg told investors click-to-message ads were at a $10 billion run rate, and called messaging the hoped-for next pillar.
Meta Platforms Investor Relations · 1 Feb 2023
Annotated · 8 notes
Microsoft · 10 Jul 2014
Satya Nadella, CEO
Microsoft’s new CEO tells staff the company is “the productivity and platform company” for a mobile-first, cloud-first world, and that its culture must change to match.
Twelve years on, Nadella said Azure revenue had passed $100 billion in a fiscal year for the first time.
Microsoft Investor Relations (Internet Archive copy) · 29 Jul 2026
Annotated · 8 notes
Berkshire Hathaway · 27 Feb 2015
Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO
Fifty years after taking control of a struggling textile maker, Buffett defends Berkshire’s conglomerate form, warns gains will slow, and sets out how it should be run after him.
Berkshire’s board elected Howard G. Buffett Chairman, with Greg Abel as CEO; Warren Buffett became Chairman Emeritus.
Berkshire Hathaway, news release · 18 Sep 2026
Annotated · 9 notes
Facebook · 22 Jun 2015
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO
Facebook’s CEO argues for buying the game engine Unity, so that Facebook owns a core layer of VR and AR instead of depending on Google and Apple again.
Unity, which Facebook had not bought, priced its own initial public offering at $52.00 a share, to trade on the New York Stock Exchange as “U”.
Unity Technologies (Internet Archive copy) · 17 Sep 2020
Annotated · 9 notes
Alphabet · 10 Aug 2015
Larry Page, CEO
Larry Page announces Alphabet, a holding company that moves Google’s far-afield bets out of Google, makes Sundar Pichai Google’s CEO and promises separate reporting.
Waymo announces a $16.0 billion investment round, the significant majority of it funded by Alphabet.
Alphabet, Form 10-K (investor relations copy) · Feb 2026
Annotated · 9 notes
Amazon · April 2016
Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO
With Amazon past $100 billion in sales, Bezos says its culture of invention must survive its size, and splits decisions into one-way and two-way doors.
Amazon’s 2016 annual report put AWS net sales for 2016 at $12,219 million, up 55%.
Amazon investor relations · 2017
Annotated · 9 notes
Tesla · 20 Jul 2016
Elon Musk, Co-Founder & CEO
Ten years after his first master plan, and while proposing to buy SolarCity, Musk sets out Tesla’s next four steps: solar roofs, more vehicle types, self-driving and shared cars.
Tesla launched its first Robotaxi service, in Austin, with a safety rider, while still calling its driver software FSD (Supervised).
Tesla investor relations · Jun 2025
Annotated · 10 notes
Amazon · April 2017
Jeff Bezos, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
“Day 2 is stasis”: Bezos names four defences for a large company against slow decline, from distrusting proxies to deciding faster with “disagree and commit”.
Andy Jassy asks each S-team organisation to raise its ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15%, to remove layers and speed decisions.
Amazon · 16 Sep 2024
Annotated · 9 notes
Amazon · 11 Apr 2019
Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO
Bezos reports that independent sellers now make 58% of Amazon’s physical gross merchandise sales, credits “wandering” for AWS and Echo, and says failures must grow with the company.
Andy Jassy’s 2022 letter reports Amazon shutting its Bookstores, 4 Star stores, Amazon Fabric and Amazon Care, and cutting 27,000 corporate roles.
Amazon investor relations · 2023
Annotated · 9 notes
Airbnb · 5 May 2020
Brian Chesky, Co-founder and CEO
Eight weeks into the crisis, Airbnb’s CEO tells staff that nearly 1,900 of them will leave, and that the company will narrow to its hosts.
Seven months later Airbnb listed on Nasdaq; its shares closed their first day at $144.71, more than double the $68 offer price.
CBS News (CBS San Francisco) · 10 Dec 2020
Annotated · 9 notes
Lemonade · 8 Jun 2020
Daniel Schreiber and Shai Wininger, Co-founders
Filing to go public, Lemonade’s founders tell investors that an unconflicted model and new technology will remake insurance, and that profit can wait for growth.
Six years after the IPO, in-force premium had reached $1.55 billion, but Lemonade was still losing money and expected its first positive Adjusted EBITDA in Q4 2026.
Lemonade investor relations · 30 Sep 2026
Annotated · 9 notes
Amazon · 15 Apr 2021
Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO
Bezos’ last letter as CEO tallies $301 billion of value Amazon created in 2020 and commits it to becoming “Earth’s Best Employer and Earth’s Safest Place to Work”.
Amazon added “Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer” and “Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility” to its Leadership Principles, making 16.
Amazon · 1 Jul 2021
Annotated · 9 notes
Meta · 28 Oct 2021
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO
On the day Facebook renames itself Meta, its founder says the company will be “metaverse-first, not Facebook-first” and will report its future-platforms work separately.
Meta reported a 2025 Reality Labs operating loss of $19,193 million, up from $10,193 million in 2021, the year of the letter.
Meta, earnings release (Exhibit 99.1) · 28 Jan 2026
Annotated · 9 notes
Patagonia · 14 Sep 2022
Yvon Chouinard, Founder
Patagonia’s founder announces he has given the company away: the voting stock to a trust that guards its values, the rest to a nonprofit fighting the environmental crisis.
The Holdfast Collective had awarded $71 million in grants since September 2022; its director called the $100 million a year suggested at the outset “a little bit aspirational”.
Inside Philanthropy · 27 Feb 2024
Annotated · 10 notes
Tesla · 5 Apr 2023
The Tesla Team
Five weeks after presenting its third master plan, Tesla publishes the model behind it: what replacing fossil fuels across the whole world economy would take.
Tesla reported 46.7 GWh of energy storage deployments for 2025, while its vehicle deliveries fell to 1,636,129.
Tesla investor relations (Internet Archive copy) · 2 Jan 2026
Annotated · 9 notes
Stripe · 13 Mar 2024
Patrick and John Collison, Co-founders
With $1 trillion a year now running through Stripe, its founders tell users the company is cash flow positive and pitch billing and finance software as its next business.
Stripe’s next letter reported $1.4 trillion in 2024 payment volume, up 38%, and said its Revenue and Finance Automation suite had passed the $500 million run rate this letter forecast.
Stripe · 27 Feb 2025
Annotated · 9 notes
Meta · 23 Jul 2024
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO
Releasing Llama 3.1, Meta’s founder argues that AI models will go the way of Linux, that giving Llama away costs Meta little, and that Apple’s rules show why.
A year later Zuckerberg wrote that superintelligence “will raise novel safety concerns” and that Meta would need to be “careful about what we choose to open source”.
Meta · 30 Jul 2025
Annotated · 9 notes
No memo in the collection has both tags yet.
Short excerpts of the text with the passages that matter highlighted, and a link to the full original.
Each highlight opens a note. Facts carry a dated source and say whether they use hindsight. Editorial notes are our judgment.
A dated timeline of what followed, every event sourced. We do not claim the memo caused it.
Each call in the memo against the evidence, with what is still uncertain. No scores.