
Do you have a friend inside Google? - sbraford
I had a potential startup idea... so I ran it by one of my friends who works at the big G.<p>While he didn't give anything confidential away about their plans -- I could tell from his response that it would probably be a good idea to postpone  any work on the idea for a few months ... when Google just might launch some whizbang new technology.<p>Are you worried <i>your</i> startup idea will be Googleized?
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cperciva
Worried my startup idea might be Googleized? Not at all. Google has some
pretty smart people, and I'm sure they would realize that they would be better
off buying my work rather than trying to duplicate it.

The same probably goes for anyone here who has made significant progress --
Google would rather buy a startup than try to compete with them.

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migpwr
I don't think this is always true... it seems to me that they have tried to
reproduce it first and if they fail then they consider a buy. Google video,
orkut, free411, office... etc. They also don't always buy...

You probably have to worry more about them producing a technology that
obsoletes your app...

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akkartik
Google has a huge case of NIH syndrome:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_Invented_Here>

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SwellJoe
Except for YouTube, DoubleClick, Zenter, Deja, Blogger, JotSpot, Picasa,
Keyhole, Phatbits, Urchin, Writely, hmm...OK, so you're either wrong or we
disagree on the meaning of "Google has a huge case of NIH syndrome".

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akkartik
..or you're wrong. Just to cover all the options.

We know they assembled their own hardware from day 1. We know they manage
their own backend and platform. They have their own version control. They
designed their own buildings at various places. They are even planning to
spend 2 years building their own HR tool (but you didn't hear it from me).

Given that they have to compete in a marketplace, they can't be overly
irrational. But you can bet they will try to duplicate something they care
about before they consider acquiring a startup. More so than Yahoo or Amazon
or even Microsoft.

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tedb
Competition is a good thing. If anything, it validates that your idea is a
good one, or at least one shared by others.

Google is a giant, but its success with search hasn't proven to translate into
de facto dominance of other areas of the web. In most cases they've had to end
up buying their competition -- YouTube won the video battle, Google Docs &
Spreadsheets was acquired from Writely, Google Earth was acquired from
Keyhole...

So don't let Google's interest in a problem scare you away from an idea -- use
it to motivate you. The web is the one niche in the economy where a 3-person
team can topple a multi-billion dollar corporation.

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mikesabat
You are already competing with Google, or better yet, the expectations they
have created. Because of their immense ad revenue they can afford to buy
companies and apps and then give them away for free.

Although your product may be different you're already competing for people's
time and attention online. If you're building something to give away for free
- then you are opening up the possibility of being Google-ized (as well as the
positive of being bought by them)

Abstractly speaking, obviously.

~~~
SwellJoe
You're also competing with others who might be acquired by Google who do the
same thing you're doing (only you're competing to be the one acquired by
Google, or a Google competitor).

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SwellJoe
The Zenter guys knew Google had a presentation product in development from
before they started. Turned out alright for them.

