4 ms·

I don't understand why the board hasn't ousted Sundar yet -- has he even spearheaded a single successful initiative that wasn't sunsetted within a few years? S

I don't understand why the board hasn't ousted Sundar yet -- has he even spearheaded a single successful initiative that wasn't sunsetted within a few years? Seems like you could make an LLM generate product ideas and it would be about equally effective.

tadfisher 4y ago
Chrome and ChromeOS come to mind. But he wasn't CEO then.
- AlbertCory 4y ago
  As I recall (someone correct me on timing?) he was actually in charge of Chrome for a long time.
daydream 4y ago
> I don't understand why the board hasn't ousted Sundar yet They didn’t realize they were at war until about 3 months ago. That’s why. It takes time.
- Corrado 4y ago
  This is why I think Google is in real trouble. They really don't recognize that they could fail. It's kinda like you can't smell yourself and don't realize you stink, until everyone leaves the party because of it.
AlbertCory 4y ago
Offhand, I don't remember who's on Alphabet's board, but let's take two other leading candidates for Worst Board of All Time: Yahoo's: had an offer from Microsoft for ~$33B in 2004 or so, declined, and later hired Marissa Mayer. Eventually sold to Verizon for ~$4B. HP's: hired Carly Fiorina, Mark Hurd, Léo Apotheker, and then Meg Whitman Modern boards rarely act in any sort of timely manner.
- evanelias 4y ago
  > Yahoo's: had an offer from Microsoft for ~$33B in 2004 or so, declined, and later hired Marissa Mayer. Eventually sold to Verizon for ~$4B. The former Yahoo assets that Verizon didn't purchase -- Yahoo Japan, plus a large stake in Alibaba, and several other investments -- were liquidated for a ~$40B total return to shareholders over the course of several years. So combined that's a 33% increase over Microsoft's offer. Obviously not a great return over like 15 years, but far from "worst board decision of all time" level either. Microsoft's 2004 board, on the other hand, I have to wonder what they were thinking...

tadfisher 4y ago

Chrome and ChromeOS come to mind. But he wasn't CEO then.

AlbertCory 4y ago
As I recall (someone correct me on timing?) he was actually in charge of Chrome for a long time.

daydream 4y ago

> I don't understand why the board hasn't ousted Sundar yet They didn’t realize they were at war until about 3 months ago. That’s why. It takes time.

Corrado 4y ago
This is why I think Google is in real trouble. They really don't recognize that they could fail. It's kinda like you can't smell yourself and don't realize you stink, until everyone leaves the party because of it.

AlbertCory 4y ago

Offhand, I don't remember who's on Alphabet's board, but let's take two other leading candidates for Worst Board of All Time: Yahoo's: had an offer from Microsoft for ~$33B in 2004 or so, declined, and later hired Marissa Mayer. Eventually sold to Verizon for ~$4B. HP's: hired Carly Fiorina, Mark Hurd, Léo Apotheker, and then Meg Whitman Modern boards rarely act in any sort of timely manner.

evanelias 4y ago
> Yahoo's: had an offer from Microsoft for ~$33B in 2004 or so, declined, and later hired Marissa Mayer. Eventually sold to Verizon for ~$4B. The former Yahoo assets that Verizon didn't purchase -- Yahoo Japan, plus a large stake in Alibaba, and several other investments -- were liquidated for a ~$40B total return to shareholders over the course of several years. So combined that's a 33% increase over Microsoft's offer. Obviously not a great return over like 15 years, but far from "worst board decision of all time" level either. Microsoft's 2004 board, on the other hand, I have to wonder what they were thinking...