4 ms·
1. Get recruited by Google 2. Work at Google for a few years, start a 20% project 3. Leave Google, become a founder 4. Get funding, hire more employees 5. L
by mortenjorck 17y ago
1. Get recruited by Google
2. Work at Google for a few years, start a 20% project
3. Leave Google, become a founder
4. Get funding, hire more employees
5. Launch a successful product, build a big userbase, get favorable media coverage
6. Get acquired by Google
- jules 17y agoIsn't the 20% product owned by Google already?
- ejames 17y agoYes, but once you're "the guy/gal who wrote $SUCCESSFUL_GOOGLE_PRODUCT", you have a lot of credibility, experience, etc. as resources to make your own product that you do own. The point of the 20% products for Google is to give the company startup-style flexibility. It works the other way, too - if you take a product from whiteboard doodling all the way to an official Google product, well, a startup is like that, except 100% of the time, on your own bank account, and with no admins/middle managers to take care of the business side for you.
- gridspy 17y agoYes, but given the 20,000 employees at Google, how many $SUCCESSFUL_GOOGLE_PRODUCTs have you seen per employee?
- mortenjorck 17y agoI'd guess ex-Googler startups tend to draw more from their founders' general experience at Google than from specific products, but I've heard of rebooting the idea of a 20% project outside with a broader scope.
- bgraves 17y agoInteresting timing :) Looks like this is what happened with Aardvak. I'm just speculating, but the formula seems to hold true in this instance. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1118214 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1118214