September 2000
Ballmer: "Developers!" chant
At a MicrosoftThe software giant behind Windows, Office, Azure, and Xbox — founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. developer event, CEO Steve Ballmer screams the word developers on stage — sweat, volume, and pure hype.
Quote
“Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers!”
What it was for
The clip became one of tech's earliest viral videos — parodied, remixed, and cited whenever a platform needs third-party apps. Ballmer later reprised it as 'web developers' in 2008.
People
- Steve Ballmer — ceo
Companies
- Microsoft
Why it's here
Peak CEO energy — a meme before memes had a name.
Why it mattered
It symbolized MicrosoftThe software giant behind Windows, Office, Azure, and Xbox — founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen.'s platform bet on ISVs and the Windows ecosystem.
What it solved
MicrosoftThe software giant behind Windows, Office, Azure, and Xbox — founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. needed to rally partners around building on its stack.
Media
- YouTubeSteve Ballmer — Developers chant (.NET presentation)
ImageSteve BallmerSteve_ballmer_2007_outdoors2.jpg: Martin Olsson (username 'mnemo' on en/sv wikipedia and commons, martin@minimum.se). derivative work: Off2riorob (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Related
- Steve Ballmer named Microsoft CEOJanuary 13, 2000