MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Microsoft's first tip for start-ups wanting to work with the software maker: Don't expect them to give you money.
Microsoft--particularly its MSN group--has been on an acquisition spree, but said it typically doesn't buy companies that it finds through its emerging business team. Rarer still is a minority investment from Microsoft, said Dan'l Lewin, the corporate vice president heading up business development for Microsoft's .Net group.
"I would never say never," Lewin told the 90 or so entrepreneurs that gathered at Microsoft's campus for a daylong seminar entitled "Partnering with Microsoft: The insider's guide for start-ups."
"But we've done three or four over the last five years," Lewin said.
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