Dan'l Lewin is Microsoft's Corporate VP for Strategic and Emerging Business, based in Silicon Valley. I work in Dan'l's organization so it was a treat to read a story in the Chronicle about Dan'l's work with VCs and startups around the world.

Dan'l is a legend in Silicon Valley where he was one of the early employees at Apple, and later started Next with Steve Jobs.

Dan'l (that is not a typo, that really is his name) was hired by Steve Ballmer almost 8 years ago to oversee Microsoft's global relationships with venture capitalists, startups and Microsoft technology partners as well as industry and community organizations in Silicon Valley.

Great quotes from Mike Moritz of Sequoia Capital "He ensures nothing gets lost in translation between here and Redmond" and Sam Altman, CEO of Loopt "Were it not for Dan'l - if we just knew Microsoft by reputation - I don't think we'd be working with them nearly as closely as we are."

The Chronicle story goes into how Microsoft works with VCs and startups, what areas are hot now, and how Microsoft handles acquisitions. You can read the whole story on SFgate, the Chronicle web site.