I'm leaving Google this week to start my own company again. The prospect of eventually sitting on the other side of the table and competing with these big companies used to bother me but I've realized that the personalities I'm looking for don't flourish at Google, and vice versa.

Google engineers (those that stay past the first vesting event) tend to be very risk averse, even for engineers. I'm not talking about technical risk and skill but I mean career and life risk. There are relatively few motorcyclists and skydivers. On our last team Vegas trip I kept track of how much everyone was gambling as a proxy for their risk appetite and decided that Googlers like a sure thing, not a risky payout down the road.

My point is, you may want Google's talent bar (who doesn't?) but you aren't truly competing for the same people. Give me some smart pirates and a fast ship.