Scoble’s boss Lenn Pryor, the Channel 9 founder, is leaving Microsoft and joining Skype. Google, Yahoo and Technorati have become homes for former Microserfs. Given the recent exodus of officials and senior executives from Microsoft, you know Bill has a serious problem at hand. Stagnating stock price, slowing core markets and uncertainty about the new directions the company wants to take, will only add to the problems in the future. Microsoft is a big company – more than 50,000 employees. It has become Boeing. One of the things however going for Microsoft is its big cash bag. It should buy instead of trying to invent stuff. Buying revenue and profits can revive the stock as well, prompting option-loyalists to stay at the giant. Sramana Mitra has some suggestions for Bill & Co. Autodesk and paychex. Don’t ask, just read it!

Lenn explains why Microsoft lost him, and Skype got him: “I decided to swap problem sets from one that I am not passionate about any more to one that I AM deeply passionate about. I just couldn’t go on being an evangelist for a gospel that I don’t believe I can sing. I am returning to focus on what I enjoy most, building amazing things that make people happy, change lives, and make money.”