The interesting thing is that google started out as such a company. Search was a very different business in the '90s. Google came in with their revolutionary way of doing IT/datacenters, their hard-CS centered coding, and their excellent search algorithms and they wiped the floor with everyone. They pioneered a new business model with usable search that was fast and low cost, making it more easily directly monetizable (instead of having to draw in more page views through "portals" and whatnot).
But then they succeeded so quickly that they haven't had that same level of hunger to actually do something risky that needed to succeed. Today google is just as likely to shut down an old project than to launch something new.
But then they succeeded so quickly that they haven't had that same level of hunger to actually do something risky that needed to succeed. Today google is just as likely to shut down an old project than to launch something new.