15 years, 5 big shifts: What we’ve seen in Seattle tech since starting the GeekWire Podcast

Fifteen years ago, Steve Jobs and Apple had just introduced the first iPad, Steve Ballmer’s Microsoft had been left for dead, and nerdy online bookseller Jeff Bezos was still getting Amazon settled into its South Lake Union headquarters. That’s when we started what became the GeekWire Podcast. This week, we go back to 2010, revisiting clips from the earliest days of the show. We remember what was happening with Amazon, Microsoft, and Seattle’s startup scene, and wrap our heads around how things have changed since then. Here are five of the biggest changes we’ve seen. Amazon went from scrappy startup… Read More

Jun 7, 2025 - 20:10

The Seattle skyline in 2010, top, and 2025, bottom, after a building boom fueled by the tech industry’s growth. (*Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, and GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop)*

Fifteen years ago, Steve Jobs and Apple had just introduced the first iPad, Steve Ballmer’s Microsoft had been left for dead, and nerdy online bookseller Jeff Bezos was still getting Amazon settled into its South Lake Union headquarters.

That’s when we started what became the GeekWire Podcast.

This week, we go back to 2010, revisiting clips from the earliest days of the show. We remember what was happening with Amazon, Microsoft, and Seattle’s startup scene, and wrap our heads around how things have changed since then.

Here are five of the biggest changes we’ve seen.

Amazon went from scrappy startup to tech titan.

In 2010, Amazon added 9,400 employees — a 40% increase that felt huge at the time. Today, with more than 1.5 million employees, that would barely register.

Microsoft pulled off a rare comeback.

Microsoft was cutting costs to maximize margins. Growth had stalled, and its relevance was fading. We never would have imagined Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg one day calling Microsoft “the greatest technology company of all time.”

Seattle’s startup community isn’t as tight-knit.

Back then, there was a stronger sense of identity in being a “Seattle startup.” Companies were rooted here. Today’s startups are distributed — maybe a few executives in Seattle, engineering teams overseas, other leaders on the East Coast. The tight-knit community has evolved into something more tenuous.

Silicon Valley arrived full-force in Seattle.

Over the past 15 years, Seattle became home to major engineering centers for companies like Facebook, Google, Apple, and Salesforce. Some arrived through acquisitions, others opened offices from scratch. The tech talent market took off, bringing more competition, higher salaries, and more opportunities.

The cloud led the way to AI.

Back then, Amazon Web Services was a few years old. Microsoft had just launched Azure. The investments they were making ushered in a new cloud era that ultimately ignited the artificial intelligence boom.

Thanks for listening to the GeekWire Podcast! If you’ve been with us since the start, shoot us a note at todd@geekwire.com. It would be great to hear from you.

— GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook.

Subscribe to GeekWire in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Audio editing by Curt Milton.