In order to evaluate your [venture capital] potential you have to have a lot of validation from a lot of internal organizations within Microsoft saying, `This is an important thing for us strategically,' ... Our access to people at Microsoft is good, and to other people of strategic importance outside Microsoft.

Having representation at some key events is really important, and in order to get a key presence it really requires a certain amount of consensus from Microsoft for what you are doing relative to their product strategies. We worked out because with [Microsoft's] DirectX and Chromeffects, they are trying to allow new capabilities and visualization techniques in business environments.