Often there's an aspiration to reach Google-level operation. Invariably some director/VP insists on building for that future. Then it turns out sales can't break into the market and adoption is low.
Now you have a neglected minimum viable product because you're scaling that skeleton instead of adding features your existing customers want. Or you're delivering those features at a slow pace because you're integrating them into two versions of the software: the working one and the castle-in-the-sky one. Then there are all sorts of other things that throw a monkey wrench into your barely moving gears: new regulations, competitors nipping at your heels, pivots, demands from management for "transparency and visibility" into why it's taking you forever to deliver their desired magnum opus.
Products that reach Google scale probably get there without even noticing it because they're correctly iterating for the marginal growth.
I'm having flashbacks to when, at a startup in 2000, our CIO insisted we needed an EMC Storage Solution. "We're going to be _huge_!" (Over my written objections, mind you.) I spent precious time and huge amounts of money to build out the colo cages to fit his folly and then the company promptly went belly up. Good times.
yes and no. there is a time for building and a time for learning. I actually encourage people to think how they would build something “google scale”. it’s not meant to be what pays the bills - but it can have dramatic effects on motivation, productivity and making the thing that pays the bills better. you see, once really smart people are free to dream they understand the cage they’re in better. timebox it and share what you’ve learned.
Often there's an aspiration to reach Google-level operation. Invariably some director/VP insists on building for that future. Then it turns out sales can't break into the market and adoption is low.
Now you have a neglected minimum viable product because you're scaling that skeleton instead of adding features your existing customers want. Or you're delivering those features at a slow pace because you're integrating them into two versions of the software: the working one and the castle-in-the-sky one. Then there are all sorts of other things that throw a monkey wrench into your barely moving gears: new regulations, competitors nipping at your heels, pivots, demands from management for "transparency and visibility" into why it's taking you forever to deliver their desired magnum opus.
Products that reach Google scale probably get there without even noticing it because they're correctly iterating for the marginal growth.