--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I remember back in the early days of…" description: "\"I remember back in the early days of Microsoft that from the day that you decided that you were just going to put out an ad to a customer - and all you..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/033/gabe-newell-11590_able_i-remember-back-in-the-early-days-of-mic_1681557.png" --- # I remember back in the early days of Microsoft that from… ![“I remember back in the early days of Microsoft that from the day that you decided that you were just going to put out an ad to a customer - and all you were usually able to tell them was that a new product was available - it was about nine months before you could actually reach the first customer.” quote by Gabe Newell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/033/gabe-newell-11590_able_i-remember-back-in-the-early-days-of-mic_1681557.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/033/gabe-newell-11590_able_i-remember-back-in-the-early-days-of-mic_1681557.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/033/gabe-newell-11590_able_i-remember-back-in-the-early-days-of-mic_1681557.png) > “I remember back in the early days of Microsoft that from the day that you decided that you were just going to put out an ad to a customer - and all you were usually able to tell them was that a new product was available - it was about nine months before you could actually reach the first customer.” [Gabe Newell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabe-newell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Launching a product required months of effort before reaching customers, highlighting slow early tech marketing cycles. **In simple terms:** Early product launches were very slow. Key Takeaway Expect long lead times for new tech. Themes technology marketing patience Mood frustrated patient Type observational historical When to use this quote - startup launch - software release - sales pipeline - customer outreach Key Concepts product development market entry customer acquisition Questions to Reflect On - How can modern companies shorten time‑to‑customer? - What bottlenecks existed in early tech sales? A Different Perspective Even after ads, actual delivery could be delayed by months. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Ad Customer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ad-customer-964190/) [Available](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/available/) [Customer Usually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customer-usually-610846/) [Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day/) [Days](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/days/) [Decided](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decided/) [Early](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/early/) [Early Days](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/early-days/) [Going Ad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going-ad-964191/) [Microsoft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/microsoft/) [Months](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/months/) [New](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new/) [Nine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nine/) [Nine months](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nine-months/) [Reach Customer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reach-customer-964192/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) ## Related quotes > [We're going to use Terri Schiavo later on. This is going to be an issue in 2006 and it's going to be an issue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-dean/we-re-going-to-use-terri-schiavo-later-on-this-is-going-to-be-an/) [Howard Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-dean/) > [I don't think I'd have been in such a hurry to reach adulthood if I'd known the whole thing was going to be ad-libbed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/i-don-t-think-i-d-have-been-in-such-a-hurry-to-reach-adulthood-if-i-d/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [“The line from a first customer is usually, “We need a big discount because we are your first customer.” You should turn this around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-gary-blank/the-line-from-a-first-customer-is-usually-we-need-a-big-discount/) [Steven Gary Blank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-gary-blank/) > [“\*Customer service\* is seldom about the customer; it is usually about the seller’s chances of making more money from that customer in future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/customer-service-is-seldom-about-the-customer-it-is-usually-about-the/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“An employee is told that the customer is always right and, in fact, the customer is usually a moron and as asshole”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-david/an-employee-is-told-that-the-customer-is-always-right-and-in-fact-the/) [Larry David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-david/) > [The customer is usually wrong, but statistics indicate that it doesn't pay to tell him so](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/the-customer-is-usually-wrong-but-statistics-indicate-that-it-doesn-t/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [“Letters mailed to Bill Gates concerning a particular product make their way from Bill’s office to the employee responsible for that product, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-weed/letters-mailed-to-bill-gates-concerning-a-particular-product-make/) [Julie Weed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-weed/) > [I was rejected a lot in the early days - I think I heard the word 'no' nine times - and I began to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cafu/i-was-rejected-a-lot-in-the-early-days-i-think-i-heard-the-word-no/) [Cafu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cafu/) > [Even in the early days of America when it was largely an agrarian or agricultural, farmer-type of economy. 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We came to the conclusion pretty quickly that we could just do away with Greenlight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabe-newell/greenlight-is-a-bad-example-of-an-election-process-we-came-to-the/) [Gabe Newell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabe-newell/) > [One of the things that's important about family is the narrative history they create for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabe-newell/one-of-the-things-that-s-important-about-family-is-the-narrative/) [Gabe Newell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabe-newell/) > [I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space. I think we'll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabe-newell/i-think-windows-8-is-a-catastrophe-for-everyone-in-the-pc-space-i/) [Gabe Newell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabe-newell/) > [The programmers of tomorrow are the wizards of the future,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabe-newell/the-programmers-of-tomorrow-are-the-wizards-of-the-future/) [Gabe Newell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabe-newell/) > [In order for innovation to happen, a bunch of things that aren't happening on closed platforms need to occur. Valve wouldn't exist today without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabe-newell/in-order-for-innovation-to-happen-a-bunch-of-things-that-aren-t-2/) [Gabe Newell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabe-newell/) > [I'd like to thank Sony for their gracious hospitality, and for not repeatedly punching me in the face. 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If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. 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