Google had that reputation wayyyyyy before Sundar was CEO.

I find it stunning that of all of the communities it seems to be HN that has jumped on this idea the most. Surely people entrenched in the startup world understand the value of pivoting and dropping products that aren't working.

Honestly, part of Google's approach is to kill products. They're a company with a startup-incubation-emulator running inside them. Things that seem worthwhile get resources, but if a product can't make its way to profitability in some amount of time, it dies.

They should probably be more up-front about the messaging around this, but if you step back and look at their practice, that's how it appears to work. User numbers don't matter; profitability matters. Not unlike startups in the long-run.

Yes, I agree that they should remove a layer of management to achieve a more focused vision around their products. (sarcasm)