(2010-11-16) Scoble Google Innovation

Robert Scoble thinks Google can't do Innovation anymore.

(Unfortunately, his primary case-example is Instagram, which I see as fun but not very innovative.)

Google, internally, knows it has an innovation problem (look at Google Wave or Buzz for examples of how it is messed up) and is looking to remake its culture internally to help entrepreneurial projects take hold.

Robert does a great job of listing some internal Game Rule-s that Google seems to follow. Unfortunately, he throws off his point but using the word "can't" instead of "chooses not to".

I think the bigger (and harder-to-solve) problem is that they don't hire Product Manager-s there, they hire Engineer-s. (Actually, that's not really true, they have people with the title of Product Manager, and some of those people aren't just engineers, thought they tend to have an MS in Computer Science...) So they put out some cool-ish product, and then if it doesn't go immediately huge (e.g. GMail), they just pout. I think Google Buzz could still be saved, I think maybe Google Wave could even be saved, or at least its guts could be turned into an adoptable product.

I also think they have a hard time pitching their Shared Mission, both externally and internally, so when they don't follow the trend-du-jour (e.g. Instagram), they seem passive/stodgy rather than Fo Cus-ed. Then they have to start worrying about losing people to FaceBook... 2010-11-12-NewDotcomBubble.

Nov19: related update: Henry Blodget thinks Google should buy startups like FourSquare. (A commenter noted that they already bought Dodge Ball.) I Commented that rather than bringing those players inside the tent, maybe Google should just channel money to them (paying for data-feed, reducing AdWords commission) while keeping them independent. This would benefit Google by keeping a rich OpenWeb EcoSystem, which is key to Google's fundamental money-makers.