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

[pirate_is_back]

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].

But since last couple of months, Google has been rolling our products in almost all domains. Is it because of heavy delegation or acquisitions?

[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.

[pirate_is_back → Umalu]

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.

[chc → pirate_is_back]

Google TV is not even released.

[zerohp → chc]

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

[bigohms → Umalu]

Shotgun vs. Sniper. The big thing is that there is digital string tied to all those pellets and bullets flying around.

[rhizome → Umalu]

To put "23,000" employees into perspective, that's three times more people than EA employs.

[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.

[pirate_is_back → there]

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

[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.

[dstein]

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

[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.