Dan'l Lewin emerges as influential advocate

That says a lot not only about the 56-year-old former Apple executive, however about the way the innovation landscape has changed in the decade since he was hired to run Microsoft's local campus. As the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant moved into an era where it no longer ruled by force, it needed the diplomatic touch of someone like Lewin to persuade startups to choose Microsoft products over those of rivals just as Google and Apple.

Fortunately for Microsoft, Lewin's tact has gone a long way to mending a relationship with the region's research community that turned poisonous in the 1990s. But Lewin is trying to take that good will a step furthermore through an ambitious program called "BizSpark" that offers free Microsoft products and services to entrepreneurs.

As corporate vice president for strategic and emerging business development, Lewin is responsible for Microsoft's relationship with startups around the world. To boot, he oversees the 32-acre Microsoft campus, which has grown to 1,900 employees. And a big part of his job is to help people from the valley navigate Microsoft's complex corporate structure.

Enter Lewin, who contacted Microsoft's Steve Ballmer afterwards hearing him give a rousing speech about his vision for the future of computing. Lewin dashed off an e-mail to Ballmer, and a few months later was hired to be the face of Microsoft in Silicon Valley.

And so, a guy who didn't know much about innovation found himself in a sales job for a division of Sony that, among other things, would in the near future begin selling one of the first magnetic computer disks for storing digital information.

That led to a call one day from another young guy who had just started a company nearly the Sony offices: Steve Jobs. He wanted Lewin to tell him about the new disk innovation. In 1981, Lewin was hired at Apple, one of its earliest employees. Four years later, he joined Then, which Jobs founded afterwards he was ousted from Apple.

Problem or need

"He's someone people feel like they can call when they have a problem or need," said Robert Scoble, a former Microsoft employee and leading research blogger.

Lewin's reach in the valley extends beyond business and into the community. In accordance with his watch, Microsoft has become one the valley's largest sources of philanthropy, and Lewin serves on the board of the Tech Museum and the Churchill Club.

If there's some question about Lewin's impact, it has to do with the change in fortune suffered by Microsoft. As Microsoft has lost its dominant position in innovation, its image has improved, observers say, because the company feels less threatening to startups and venture capitalists.

The best examples of how Lewin did that

BizSpark is one of the best examples of how Lewin did that. The program offers startups free use of Microsoft software just as Outlook or hosting on its cloud computing platform, Azure, services that might if not be out of their price range.