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Sundar was pretty close to optimal. For internal consumption, it was an inspiring story of an engineer who rose through the ranks to the top, an affirmation of

Sundar was pretty close to optimal. For internal consumption, it was an inspiring story of an engineer who rose through the ranks to the top, an affirmation of an engineering-centric culture. A foreign-born immigrant to boot. And for external consumption: a polished, articulate, and presentable exec who can competently testify in front of the Congress or talk to politicians without giving off weird vibes, the way Zuckerberg and some others used to. Sundar isn't a charismatic leader with a bold vision; he is a bureaucrat. But Google never really had a Jobs-style leader, and that might be fundamentally incompatible with the corporate culture over there. It owed a lot of its early success to great engineering, and the reason it maybe isn't working as well now is mostly a function of size. They used to be content with an innovative project that could bring in $50M... now it's not a success if there's no immediate path to $1B. It also doesn't help that the company doesn't really have a clear product identity. Apple does consumer hardware and a bunch of services subservient to that. Google is... what? An advertising network? A vendor of office apps for businesses? An ISP? A grocery delivery company (they did that for a good while)? A social network? Oh, and that gaming thing with Stadia? And let's not mention their biotech and self-driving car ventures, now spun off but still paid for from the same coffers... it's admirable that they try so many things, but it makes it hard for them to stick to any long-term plan. I don't think you can really pin that on Sundar - he didn't create this problem, although to be fair, he's also not fixing it.

dilyevsky 3y ago
Sundar was never an engineer. > Google is... what? An advertising network? A vendor of office apps for businesses? An ISP? A grocery delivery company (they did that for a good while)? A social network? Oh, and that gaming thing with Stadia? There is a clear identity - Google is about hoarding all of the available data (originally web) and making money off of it any way you can. By definition it has to be huge and get their hands into as many pies as humanly possible and then cut away stuff that doesn’t work. So i would say they are being perfectly consistent whether their employees appreciate it or not.
- Nevermark 3y ago
  > making money off of it any way you can Of course there isn’t an inconsistency there. Its such a non-identity there isn’t anything to be inconsistent with, outside of declaring the company a on-profit. The problem of lack of identity isn’t always about lack of consistency. It also is a lack of focus. Lack of focus leaves the door open to vastly increased complexity. The need for more and more employees as per employee impact drops.
  - dilyevsky 3y ago
    It’s not much more generic than “make consumer electronics” from apple which makes everything under the sun now from headphones to cars. Google just increasingly became at odds with its own “dont be evil” motto as the company had scaled so execution had greately suffered

dilyevsky 3y ago

Sundar was never an engineer. > Google is... what? An advertising network? A vendor of office apps for businesses? An ISP? A grocery delivery company (they did that for a good while)? A social network? Oh, and that gaming thing with Stadia? There is a clear identity - Google is about hoarding all of the available data (originally web) and making money off of it any way you can. By definition it has to be huge and get their hands into as many pies as humanly possible and then cut away stuff that doesn’t work. So i would say they are being perfectly consistent whether their employees appreciate it or not.

Nevermark 3y ago
> making money off of it any way you can Of course there isn’t an inconsistency there. Its such a non-identity there isn’t anything to be inconsistent with, outside of declaring the company a on-profit. The problem of lack of identity isn’t always about lack of consistency. It also is a lack of focus. Lack of focus leaves the door open to vastly increased complexity. The need for more and more employees as per employee impact drops.
- dilyevsky 3y ago
  It’s not much more generic than “make consumer electronics” from apple which makes everything under the sun now from headphones to cars. Google just increasingly became at odds with its own “dont be evil” motto as the company had scaled so execution had greately suffered