> Among the 800 or so employees laid off by Microsoft today: Don Dodge,
> Microsoft’s Director of Business Development for the Emerging Business
> Team, reporting to VP Dan’l Lewin. Don writes about the change on his
> personal blog.

> All layoffs suck, but letting Don go is a huge mistake for Microsoft.
> He nearly singlehandedly defends the Microsoft brand in a fairly anti-
> Microsoft developer and user community. For many people in the startup
> community, Don is the face of Microsoft. He travels constantly,
> speaking at events whenever he’s asked, and makes a big effort to give
> young startups the attention they deserve. This is a guy who gives a
> heck of a lot more to the community than he ever takes back.

> Don has been an expert panelist at all three TechCrunch50 conferences.
> He has also written guest posts for us covering startup events we
> couldn’t attend personally.

> His reaction to today’s news shows what kind of person he is. I
> reached him by telephone just an hour after he heard the news. And he
> didn’t have a bad word to say about Microsoft. He was more concerned
> that I not write anything negative about the company than anything
> else. Even after they turned their back on him, he was still on their
> side.

> My opinion of Microsoft dropped a notch today. A big notch. Don
> invested years of his time making Microsoft seem more human, and there
> are very few people I respect more than this man. He wasted all that
> time, apparently.