I don't think this is true at all. Jobs re-invented Apple in about 6 years and did an amazing job with it. Being a startup means lots of things. At the core of it is to stop worrying about what you have to lose. Apple was able to do this because they had already lost. Google may be able to do this before they lose in any meaningful way because that's Larry's personality. If Larry can do half the job that Jobs did in setting the bar for his company (vision, execution, product quality) then Google will do really well for the next ten years.