Google - Innovation as a business strategy
In 2004, before Google's IPO, the founders send a letter to shareholders stating that "Our business environment changes rapidly and needs long term investment. We will not hesitate to place major bets on promising new opportunities." Google recognized early on, that all success in Search and Online Advertising will not be enough for a long-term success of the company.
For a small startup company, survival requires agility. As Google has grown to a worldwide company of 15,000+ employees, risk taking is under pressure from the sheer complexity of Google's services. As products mature, how can Google maintain its entrepreneurial spirit and avoid the tendency to introduce more administration, oversight and inflexibility.
In this talk, we will look into the Google culture that not only encourages innovation, but rewards it. At its core is the recognition that innovation is not a top-down initiative, but comes from the bottom. What is it that encourages Googlers to take risks, think outside of the box and come up with new ideas? And what role does management play in this?