Resolve and Fortitude : Microsoft's ''SECRET POWER BROKER'' breaks his silence by Joachim Kempin Page B

viewed it as an enticing chance to create store traffic, uprooting the local market yet again. For us, the deal was an impressive breakthrough that wiped out nearly all of Vobis’s business with DRI. Kudos to the local team!
    I arrived early at MS booth, expecting a glorious signature event followed by a celebration. The champagne and the canapés were waiting! Our German subsidiary manage, Christian Wedell, was present while the account rep had fallen sick.
    Inside a scant five minutes, our meeting turned sour. After Christian handed Lieven the documents we had prepared for signature, he sat them down in front of him and began ranting about MS, her trickstering, perceived unfair business practices, etc. His first complaint was the amount of royalties we were asking for. Second, he called our terms and conditions obnoxious. Not mincing words, he raised his voice in operatic crescendo, slashing away with other stinging accusations. I was getting very uncomfortable. The Vobis team had agreed to all terms and conditions before we arranged the CeBIT visit. What on earth was going on here? When I at last got a word in, I politely made my point, expressing my astonishment, and asked for a brief recess.
    Christian and I immediately called our rep, who was equally as puzzled. I knew him well, having hired and worked with him when running Germany. A smart engineer at heart and a dedicated and honest man, always calm and well behaved. The perfect match for Mr. Lieven, legendary for tantrums and other public and often humorous behavioral aberrations. Theo was behaving like a spoiled child in need of a stern rebuke to get relocated into reality. It was every bit that outlandishly puerile. Was his behavior a last-ditch effort to arrive at more favorable contract terms, or a “go to hell with you and your company” adios?
    We didn’t have a clue. I was jet-lagged, a bit exhausted, and not as content as usual. I’d been watching his cofounder, who had arrived with him. He showed signs of despairing over his partner’s antics. Back in the meeting room, I told our visitors what was on the table was the best deal they could expect from us. Interpreting my remark as a harsh ultimatum, Theo responded with a freshly fomented hurricane of rage. Infuriated, I told him I had no interest in wasting precious time enduring his simian tirades. For me the situation was black-and-white: Stop moaning and groaning and sign the deal. Or leave in peace. I added that the price of MS Windows could easily go up later in the year. I knew, as I said this, I should have refrained from further pressure. As the reserves of my patience fully depleted and my annoyance meter pegged, I did it anyway. The situation had gotten the better of me.
    Mr. Lieven interpreted my last message as a threat to his livelihood and immediately fired back, calling me names I won’t translate into English. I understood at once I’d committed a grievous error and made an effort to calm him down. With me not succeeding, both visitors bolted for the exit without ceremony, stomping off into the heraldic Hannover morning—the German way. Contract unsigned.
    My second mistake was reporting the incident in my monthly status report—archived by someone else and later to be discovered, and played up in the ongoing Federal Trade Commission investigation. The Feds later would not take my explanation verbatim,insisting I had threatened a customer with not licensing Windows at a standard price and/or tied its sale together with MS-DOS. None of this bore any resemblance to my recollection.
    The final outcome actually rewarded both sides. Mr. Lieven personally signed the abandoned agreement without changes except the date less than a month later. Swallowing his pride, Theo proceeded to take full advantage of the deal. Unexpectedly, his company made a commendable effort and succeeded in being the first to market with preinstalled German Windows PCs shortly after version 3.0 got released. The