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Sundar became CEO at a time when Google needed a leader who could build consensus across different product areas. Sundar was the right person for this role. Unf
by bmcquade 3y ago
Sundar became CEO at a time when Google needed a leader who could build consensus across different product areas. Sundar was the right person for this role. Unfortunately Sundar is also relatively weak at setting a bold vision to ensure the company continues to grow and innovate, as Larry had done. So under Sundar the company has slowly shifted from being innovative to being very risk averse, incentivising not making mistakes, maintaining the status quo, and focusing on cutting costs over creating new lasting value. The effect of these changes is finally becoming more apparent.
- Xelbair 3y agoso to paraphrase, he is a bean counter.
- bmcquade 3y agoI think he cares deeply about the company and its mission, he just lacks the ability to be a bold and decisive leader. This can be a good thing in some cases (he is good at building consensus for example), but can also be harmful.
- mft_ 3y agoA quick Google (natch!) suggests that the company mission is: “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Does he "care deeply" about this? If we look at the direction they've taken in recent years, and the products they've launched (and/or killed) - how many of them demonstrate a "deep care" about this mission? How many of them are even tangentially related to this mission? (The projects that Google undertook in the early days --Earth, Maps, Mail, digitising whole libraries, photographing the world for StreetView-- definitely showed a dedication to this mission statement.)
- eastbound 3y agoI don’t find the world information on Google when I search. Gmail works much better. It does, indeed, organize the world’s information, the world’s private and corporate information. But the only who can really search through it is the CIA. Maybe we’re not the real customers ;)
- daniel_reetz 3y agoThe notion of organizing private information (VS the public internet) helped me shift my perspective a bit, thank you. It also dramatically amplified my feelings about other Google products, like Drive, which do an absolutely terrible job organizing and making private information accessible. It's almost maliciously bad.
- outside1234 3y agoEverything is branded for what it is not. Google’s mission is to display ads on everything. Organizing information is just an optional side quest when it enables the former.
- KyeRussell 3y agoWhat argument are you trying to make here? This feels very “I’m going to logic you into my view”. Google is a large, nuanced organisation. The measure of Sundar “caring deeply” doesn’t have to be filtered through a marketing slogan.
- mft_ 3y agoThe previous poster wrote (of Sundar): "I think he cares deeply about the company and its mission..." I'm not trying to make an argument; instead, I was: 1) Checking what Google's mission is these days (as I'm not clear if the mission statement I found is indeed still their mission, and/or the one that the previous poster said that he cares deeply about) 2) If that is the correct mission statement, testing the premise that he cares deeply about it, by exploring the direction the company under his leadership has taken.
- justinclift 3y agoSounds like he's more suitable to be 2IC (eg 2nd in charge, not the leader) then?
- mrdrqr 3y agoWhy even write 2IC if you then have to explain what it is?
- justinclift 3y agoBecause it's a term familiar to some, and not to others. What were you thinking the answer would be?
- quesera 3y agoThe better question is why did you use "eg" when you meant "i.e."? :)
- justinclift 3y agoMeh, no-one gives a shit. ;)
- nxm 3y agoHe’s the Steve Balmer of Google
- Rexxar 3y agoSteve Ballmer was not a technologist but he had something more than a been counter despite all his flaws.
- ur-whale 3y ago>He’s the Steve Balmer of Google No, he isn't. However misguided and ridiculous Balmer was, he at least showed that he was fully alive [1] Sundar wouldn't be caught dead wearing a sweaty shirt or yelling on a stage. The dude is a fucking wax puppet. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxbJw8PrIkc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxbJw8PrIkc
- fatfingerd 3y ago> Unfortunately Sundar is also relatively weak at setting a bold vision to ensure the company continues to grow and innovate, as Larry had done. I'm willing to presume Larry had bold visions, but if I grouped google products, I think successful and launched before 2006 would be the same. I think it's time to admit that google has been a conglomerate for decades and could no longer run with innovative management. The correct thing to do is to break it up so subdivisions of today can be innovative companies, or reliable dividend payers, or bankrupt.
- ikt 3y ago> if I grouped google products, I think successful and launched before 2006 would be the same In October 2006, YouTube was bought by Google for $1.65 billion.[11] Google Maps was launched in February 2005.[2] These are the last 2 Google products I use Search got replaced by DDG then Ecosia Chrome by Firefox Gmail by my own mail server My Pixel 2 ran out of security coverage and sick of buying a new phone every 2 years I went to an iphone xs Youtube and Maps are the only two sticky products left and both came about when I was in high school
- esprehn 3y agoFrom what I observe Google Photos is quite popular. It's from 2015.
- runnerup 3y agoFor me, Google Photos started a bit earlier: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picasa https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picasa
- griffinkelly 3y agoA great product, its too bad it was discontinued. I much prefered it over lightroom.
- esprehn 3y agoI think it was Bump Photoroll not Picasa that became Google Photos: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/bump https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/bump
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- prepend 3y ago> Sundar was the right person for this role. Was he? What is the evidence that he succeeded? Or even had more positive influence than random decisions? Does google have consensus over what it’s doing? Or is Sundar specifically a “safe,” milquetoast CEO chosen to not show up previous CEOs. I don’t know Sundar, but it seems he was picked because google leadership assumed supremacy and thought that they just needed a steady hand to coast for a few years.
- Fricken 3y agoSundar was chosen following a series of failures by megalomaniacal executives Larry had appointed/approved to head various departments, including Andy Rubin, Tony Fadell, and Anthony Levandwoski. Sundar was a move in the opposite direction.
- morelisp 3y agoDon't forget Vic. It's somewhat amazing how many failed, some nearly sociopathic, almost-CEOs Google had.
- sangnoir 3y agoIronically, Vic was was empowered to counter a similar panic an upstart more formidable than OpenAI. He brought a bold vision alright, but that's not sufficient to be a good leader.
- outside1234 3y agoYou mean like between Google Brain and DeepMind?
- znpy 3y ago> maintaining the status quo, and focusing on cutting costs over creating new lasting value. that's how market leaders die, btw.
- roncesvalles 3y ago>the company has slowly shifted from being innovative to being very risk averse, incentivizing not making mistakes, maintaining the status quo, and focusing on cutting costs over creating new lasting value This is in large part due to Ruth Porat's relentless multiyear campaign of cracking down on employee perks and salaries at Google, at a time when VCs were throwing blank checks at startups who in turn were poaching the best people with whole-number multiples of their current compensation. This destroyed arguably Google's single greatest asset — its public image as a "dream employer". The lack of innovation and risk aversion are just second-order effects of losing the ability to execute (especially in the context of its ambitions) by being known as a second-rate employer in an industry primarily limited by the cost and ability to attract quality labor. This doesn't excuse Sundar of course, because he was ultimately the CEO through all of this. "The Elves Leave Middle Earth – Sodas Are No Longer Free" https://steveblank.com/2009/12/21/the-elves-leave-middle-earth-%E2%80%93-soda%E2%80%99s-are-no-longer-free/ https://steveblank.com/2009/12/21/the-elves-leave-middle-ear...
- irrational 3y agoIs he the Steve Ballmer of Google?
- Eddy_Viscosity2 3y agoI'm sure they could have found a safe consensus building CEO for less that $226M. Like, way less.