Discussion

• @bmorrissey Brian Morrissey on x

  A 140k employee company is somewhat bureaucratic, churns 10% of VPs and has a CEO who shockingly takes time thinking through big decisions. Scandalous. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @deepbagchee Deep Bagchee on x

  Is the glass half empty or full? During ⁦⁦@sundarpichai⁩ 's time as ⁦@Google⁩ CEO, the workforce has doubled, Alphabet's value has tripled, he is a thoughtful leader and the company is more disciplined and organised. Is that the story? https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @sarthakgh Sar Haribhakti on x

  “During his time leading Google, it has doubled its work force to about 140,000 people, and Alphabet has tripled in value.” LOL he is failing like everyone has been saying Tim Cook has been failing for past 5 years Takes time to make big decisions! https://t.co/ce2CfH8t0V

• @caesars Caesar Sengupta on x

  Yes, a nice guy can absolutely be an effective leader. I have seen @sundarpichai be both for a long time and if you don't want to believe me, look at $GOOG (274.56% up in the past 5 years). https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @fredericl Frederic Lardinois on x

  Today's Google is boring and mostly feels like it's chasing trends, not setting them. And I don't think anybody could tell you what Google's current mission really is (beyond making money). That's a leadership problem. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x

  Google is going through it's Ballmer era with Mini-Microsoft style complaints that there are too many employees, no new cash cows, top employees defecting to hotter companies and most recent products have been duds. The company needs a culture change. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @dealbook @dealbook on x

  It is hard to argue that things aren't going great for Google, @daiwaka writes. But a restive class of Google executives worry that the company is showing cracks - saying Google's work force is increasingly outspoken. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x

  Also the answer to the question of whether a nice guy can be an effective leader is definitely yes since Satya is a super nice person. However he's also ruthlessly pragmatic (e.g. there were annual layoffs his first few years undoing the Nokia purchase) while still being nice.

• @hallstephenj Stephen Hall on x

  All roads lead to the age-old Google thing: they are an advertising company with a monopoly no matter how badly they want to be other things too. Sundar's approach seems to suggest he is aware of the reality, which is his fiduciary duty. https://twitter.com/...

• @shiringhaffary Shirin Ghaffary on x

  “One former executive said the company's risk aversion was embodied by a state of perpetual research and development known internally as “pantry mode.” Teams will stash away products in case a rival creates something new and Google needs to respond quickly.” https://twitter.com/.…

• @gerritd Gerrit De Vynck on x

  I've yet to hear a former Google exec actually articulate specifically what they want Sundar to do differently besides “move faster” and “be more decisive” https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @jenn_elias Jennifer Elias on x

  Google's growing bureaucracy is rattling more execs, according to NYT report. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @seyitaylor @seyitaylor on x

  Ok my slightly more serious take: NYT reports that Google 2x'ed headcount and 3x'ed value. Wonder if the value would have gone up 5x if they'd halved the headcount. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @nytimesbusiness @nytimesbusiness on x

  Google makes billions every quarter and looks tougher than ever. But some company executives worry it has become slow footed, in part because of the leadership of Sundar Pichai. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @karlbode Karl Bode on x

  it's such a dramatically different company than it was in 2008. a now almost imperceptible moral compass and dominated by timidity https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @counternotions Kontra on x

  NYTimes goes after Sundar Pichai, for being indecisive and soft. (What, was Tim Cook not available?!) https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @reckless Nilay Patel on x

  We were JUST talking about how Google appears to be moving in slow motion on the Vergecast last week. This all just feels like what happens when a monopoly is printing cash; no one wants risk new things unless forced https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @daiwaka Daisuke Wakabayashi on x

  Everyone agrees that Sundar is a thoughtful and caring leader, but some exes said he chews over decisions for too long. A few compared him to Hamlet. With the Google's many workplace culture issues, they see his attempts to lower the temperature as ineffective 2/x

• @daiwaka Daisuke Wakabayashi on x

  Google arranged for 9 current and former execs to offer a different perspective. They said Sundar is not an autocratic leader and gives his deputies room to make their own decisions. He is also more decisive in private and has taken steps to move some decisions off his plate. 3/x

• @jyarow Jay Yarow on x

  Brutal take down. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @shiraovide Shira Ovide on x

  What if being Big Tech is actually bad for the companies? Great @daiwaka read on fears inside Google that leadership is indecisive and risk averse. (Also, wasn't avoiding all that the point of creating the Alphabet structure?) https://t.co/PSGHNkLvbm

• @daiwaka Daisuke Wakabayashi on x

  On the surface, things appear great at Google. But there is a growing contingent of current and former execs who see some cracks emerging and they see it as an issue stemming from Sundar Pichai's leadership. Here's our story 1/x https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @mhbergen Mark Bergen on x

  Google weighed buying Shopify, but Sundar shot it down because the price was too high. From good @daiwaka yarn about a Google restless with its CEO. https://www.nytimes.com/...