

Ask HN: How is Google focusing on so many products simultaneously? - jagira

Most of the other companies focus on one or two products at any time. That is understood because ultimately decisions are to be approved by a small group [usually by a single person ^ Mr Jobs].<p>But since last couple of months, Google has been rolling our products in almost all domains. Is it because of heavy delegation or acquisitions?
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Umalu
How? With 23,000 employees you can staff up a lot of internal projects. And
with $30 billion in cash you can afford to acquire a lot of external projects.

Why? I think Google has a different philosophy than Apple. Where Apple seems
like a design shop with a minimalist ethos (its highly-polished product line
famously fits on a conference room table, and it prides itself on what it
doesn't do), Google seems more like a start-up incubator hoping, by early
release and rapid iteration, to see some of its ideas catch on, knowing all
along that many will fail.

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jagira
If you are talking about jaiku or aardvark, then its fine. But TV, Mobile,
Cloud, OS are all mainstream domains and their product ideas in these domains
are beyond the incubation stage.

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chc
Google TV is not even released.

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zerohp
<http://www.logitech.com/en-us/smartTV/revue>

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there
i think it's because they aren't actually "focusing" on all of those products.
they have small teams come up with a new product, push it out, see how the
public reacts, and if it's a hit, they devote more resources to it. if not,
they can it.

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jagira
Considering the mainstream products they have launched, it must be a huge
effort involving large teams with members from all verticals.

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dgreensp
Responsibility is very decentralized, and products start as small teams of
engineers, though they quickly grow quite large.

Also, they don't manufacture or support anything! They just do software, a
little marketing, and some partnerships.

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dstein
Google is using the "spaghetti-flinging" strategy to try to enter new markets,
and perhaps unconcsiously becoming a prolific shovelware producer.

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jaxtapose
Anybody who has to work with Google (not for) would know that Google and Focus
don't belong in the same sentence. Individual teams are fine, but overall
Google is fractured and confused.

