We have all heard the horror stories of big business pitted against small business. The classic David and Goliath tale played out from Wall Street to Main Street with all kinds of financial causalities in their wake. While the tales may differ, the moral is the same. The big fish will always try to eat the little fish. As I walked the floor at SXSW this past month, I was a bit surprised to find some new tales in the making that blow these stereotypes out of the water.
One in particular is Microsoft‘s launch of its WebsiteSpark program. The program is geared toward small web design firms of ten or less employees and allows them to tap into the full resources of Microsoft for a mere $100 exit fee after program completion. Website Spark not only puts you in touch with Microsoft’s network of partners and experts for training and sales leads, but it also gives you the opportunity to showcase your work in their marketing and networking events. The real beauty of the program, however, is the free access and training for their full-featured software such as Expression, Silverlight, SQL Server, Windows Server, and Visual Studio. That alone is a goldmine to any cash deprived start-up.
While Microsoft’s new effort certainly isn’t completely altruistic, it is well received. They are looking to build brand loyalty that will translate into lifelong Microsoft customers and who could blame them. I commend their efforts supporting the web design and development community and I can’t wait to see how the WebsiteSpark program graduates fair in the real world. A new era of David and Goliath has been born.
(click to watch video)
Have your heard of any other tales of big business’ helping small business? If so, I’d love to hear them! Just comment below or email me [email protected]
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