6 ms·

Pinchai has been a Terrible pick. He made google just worse. Like a passive aggressive leader...

peanuty1 4y ago
Do you attribute that to his lack of EECS background like the poster above you? Also, is Pinchai a typo or a play on words with "penny-pincher"?
ptero 4y ago
Not to defend him, but I think by 2015 google has already lost its way, focusing not on developing groundbreaking technology, but on using it's dominance to squeeze any money even if it meant encouraging addictive behaviors.
- kccqzy 4y ago
  2015 sounds about right. Three Years of Misery Inside Google is one of the best articles you can find about the seemingly sudden change of culture that made working at Google miserable. https://www.wired.com/story/inside-google-three-years-misery-happiest-company-tech/ https://www.wired.com/story/inside-google-three-years-misery...
  - user_7832 4y ago
    Wow, thanks for that article. It’s quite a long read, though a bit sad/disappointing, as someone who once believed in Google.
- fooker 4y ago
  I interned at Google around 2015 and again 2019 as a grad student. The culture was dramatically different, even in a very similar team.
  - rightbyte 4y ago
    Care to elaborate. In what way? I have always though their crazy hiring rate would erase their "culture" like every two years.
    - fooker 4y ago
      TGIF was not a thing people watched or went to anymore. The number of meetings doubled. Employees were actively discouraged to look through code in google3 and design documents that did not concern their work (search for 'need to know' in Memegen if it still exists). The main thing that weirded me out and ultimately caused me to decide not to work for Google was that everyone was talking about perf and promotions all the time. Everyone in the team structured their work accordingly, and tales of people who obtained promotions because of heroic effort for achieving something was a recurring topic in group conversations. There was cost cutting efforts everywhere. There was significantly more red tape involved in requisitioning a heavy duty computer needed for my work (compiler development). The food in the micro kitches were toned down in variety and quality. Food trucks disappeared. The food in the cafes was unchanged but dinner was no longer served at about half of the cafes.
- epolanski 4y ago
  Stadia was launched after 2015, best streaming service for games by far. Then they killed it.
cptskippy 4y ago
I always assumed his appointment was strategic, Pichai got his position shortly after Nadella took over Microsoft. This coincided with announcements like Android One and other products targeting or focusing on the Indian market which is emerging as a force on the global stage.
- FearlessNebula 4y ago
  You think they chose an Indian CEO to appeal to the Indian market? I can’t imagine they’d make such a huge decision over a factor like that.
  - cptskippy 4y ago
    Companies do it all the time for diversity and inclusion reasons. I'm not suggesting either CEO is un/under qualified for the position, but rather given a pool of highly qualified candidates they chose to sort the list for a particular attribute.
warning26 4y ago
I’ve seen him speak in person, and this is completely correct. He just chases shiny things; there’s no vision for the company at all, just “oh well this seems interesting”.
- bushbaba 4y ago
  He’s thoughtful
- commandlinefan 4y ago
  > just “oh well this seems interesting” To play devil's advocate (I'm no fan of Google in any way), but this is also how Elon Musk operates, and it seems to be going well for him.
  - azinman2 4y ago
    Is that sarcasm? I can’t tell
    - commandlinefan 4y ago
      Not at all. He did lose a lot of money recently, but most of that is "on paper" - he still has at least that much left over. I'd be more than happy to have his problems. He's in a valley right now, but his batting average is very high.
  - xiphias2 4y ago
    Elon Musk is strongly outspoken, and has strong vision, communicates the vision, although it can change in a day. But at least everybody in the company (or rather everybody on Twitter) knows the plan to execute on. When Sundar speaks he speaks politically, so that he can never be wrong (at the same time if I just watched his talks, I couldn't even know that I'm at a search company).
    - warning26 4y ago
      > communicates the vision He seemed to do a pretty good job with that at Tesla/SpaceX, but I’d argue he’s really dropped the ball at Twitter. No one seems to have any idea what “Twitter 2.0” even is supposed to be.
karmasimida 4y ago
Maybe. But they should really keep the companies leaner than it currently is … The self motivated bottom up Google way can’t scale like this.
browningstreet 4y ago
Who has the harder/worse job: CEO of Microsoft or CEO of Alphabet/Google?
- eftychis 4y ago
  Neither? My prediction is the latter will retire coming up and have the next one clean the mess. Personal opinion and jaded perspective of course. Disclaimer: don't like shortsighted "follow the shiny thing" decisions. I haven't seen evidence the CEO of Google has positioned the company for the long term or to survive. Namely, the bus would have been going fine if not better without some if not all of the Google leadership on the wheel. I hope I am wrong.
nova22033 4y ago
Google market cap has more than doubled since he took over.

Do you attribute that to his lack of EECS background like the poster above you? Also, is Pinchai a typo or a play on words with "penny-pincher"?

ptero 4y ago

Not to defend him, but I think by 2015 google has already lost its way, focusing not on developing groundbreaking technology, but on using it's dominance to squeeze any money even if it meant encouraging addictive behaviors.

kccqzy 4y ago
2015 sounds about right. Three Years of Misery Inside Google is one of the best articles you can find about the seemingly sudden change of culture that made working at Google miserable. https://www.wired.com/story/inside-google-three-years-misery-happiest-company-tech/ https://www.wired.com/story/inside-google-three-years-misery...
- user_7832 4y ago
  Wow, thanks for that article. It’s quite a long read, though a bit sad/disappointing, as someone who once believed in Google.
fooker 4y ago
I interned at Google around 2015 and again 2019 as a grad student. The culture was dramatically different, even in a very similar team.
- rightbyte 4y ago
  Care to elaborate. In what way? I have always though their crazy hiring rate would erase their "culture" like every two years.
  - fooker 4y ago
    TGIF was not a thing people watched or went to anymore. The number of meetings doubled. Employees were actively discouraged to look through code in google3 and design documents that did not concern their work (search for 'need to know' in Memegen if it still exists). The main thing that weirded me out and ultimately caused me to decide not to work for Google was that everyone was talking about perf and promotions all the time. Everyone in the team structured their work accordingly, and tales of people who obtained promotions because of heroic effort for achieving something was a recurring topic in group conversations. There was cost cutting efforts everywhere. There was significantly more red tape involved in requisitioning a heavy duty computer needed for my work (compiler development). The food in the micro kitches were toned down in variety and quality. Food trucks disappeared. The food in the cafes was unchanged but dinner was no longer served at about half of the cafes.
epolanski 4y ago
Stadia was launched after 2015, best streaming service for games by far. Then they killed it.

cptskippy 4y ago

I always assumed his appointment was strategic, Pichai got his position shortly after Nadella took over Microsoft. This coincided with announcements like Android One and other products targeting or focusing on the Indian market which is emerging as a force on the global stage.

FearlessNebula 4y ago
You think they chose an Indian CEO to appeal to the Indian market? I can’t imagine they’d make such a huge decision over a factor like that.
- cptskippy 4y ago
  Companies do it all the time for diversity and inclusion reasons. I'm not suggesting either CEO is un/under qualified for the position, but rather given a pool of highly qualified candidates they chose to sort the list for a particular attribute.

warning26 4y ago

I’ve seen him speak in person, and this is completely correct. He just chases shiny things; there’s no vision for the company at all, just “oh well this seems interesting”.

bushbaba 4y ago
He’s thoughtful
commandlinefan 4y ago
> just “oh well this seems interesting” To play devil's advocate (I'm no fan of Google in any way), but this is also how Elon Musk operates, and it seems to be going well for him.
- azinman2 4y ago
  Is that sarcasm? I can’t tell
  - commandlinefan 4y ago
    Not at all. He did lose a lot of money recently, but most of that is "on paper" - he still has at least that much left over. I'd be more than happy to have his problems. He's in a valley right now, but his batting average is very high.
- xiphias2 4y ago
  Elon Musk is strongly outspoken, and has strong vision, communicates the vision, although it can change in a day. But at least everybody in the company (or rather everybody on Twitter) knows the plan to execute on. When Sundar speaks he speaks politically, so that he can never be wrong (at the same time if I just watched his talks, I couldn't even know that I'm at a search company).
  - warning26 4y ago
    > communicates the vision He seemed to do a pretty good job with that at Tesla/SpaceX, but I’d argue he’s really dropped the ball at Twitter. No one seems to have any idea what “Twitter 2.0” even is supposed to be.

karmasimida 4y ago

Maybe. But they should really keep the companies leaner than it currently is … The self motivated bottom up Google way can’t scale like this.

browningstreet 4y ago

Who has the harder/worse job: CEO of Microsoft or CEO of Alphabet/Google?

eftychis 4y ago
Neither? My prediction is the latter will retire coming up and have the next one clean the mess. Personal opinion and jaded perspective of course. Disclaimer: don't like shortsighted "follow the shiny thing" decisions. I haven't seen evidence the CEO of Google has positioned the company for the long term or to survive. Namely, the bus would have been going fine if not better without some if not all of the Google leadership on the wheel. I hope I am wrong.

nova22033 4y ago

Google market cap has more than doubled since he took over.