‘Morale is at an all-time low’: Ex-Googler writes scathing latter slamming layoffs and ‘eroded’ culture::An ex-Googler wrote a 1,500-word letter criticizing the firm and CEO Sundar Pichai’s lack of “visionary leadership.”
‘Morale is at an all-time low’: Ex-Googler writes scathing latter slamming layoffs and ‘eroded’ culture::An ex-Googler wrote a 1,500-word letter criticizing the firm and CEO Sundar Pichai’s lack of “visionary leadership.”
Sundar Pichai has got to be the worst CEO in the silicon valley period
Google has managed to produce next to nothing of value with a dreamteam of engineers the likes of which no one else had access to
From one uninspired leadership decision to the next they’ve just been sitting there bolstering what’s already there while every once in a while adding a new product to the Google graveyard
They did produce something of value, Stadia, but instead of investing in it further with some exclusive games to show off its capabilities and lure more people and developers in … or just outright signing a deal to paying for the development cost to port some hits or Call of Duty to Stadia, they wrote it off, refunded everything, and shut it down.
It’s a major fail, they tried next to nothing to fix their messaging issues, failed to invest in areas that would’ve made a difference, and didn’t stick with it to challenge people’s beliefs that Stadia was going to be shut down.
They should’ve:
Imagine if people literally just pressed a few buttons on their old gaming computer and suddenly could play a bunch of their steam library in the cloud with better graphics for free on any device they wanted. I can’t imagine folks wouldn’t have stuck around with that kind of a deal.
This would have given people confidence, but really doesn’t reflect on Google as a whole, and just reinforces that they as a company will kill things at a moment’s notice.
I think in addition to all your points, they could have distanced Stadia from Google, and announced a new gaming company under the Alphabet umbrella. The hardware bundles they were selling with Chromecasts probably wouldn’t have been a thing, but I’m not sure if that would have been a bad thing. Having stadia as a completely separate entity from Google may have given it the breathing room it needed to get a good user base, without the stigma of google killing products.
I’ve typed up several replies to this but really, I think this is completely meaningless statement. It’s a hypothetical example, and regardless of how it “reflects on Google”, it would’ve addressed the concern and proved they were in it for the long-haul. Perception is reality and the perception of many was that Google is flaky.
You don’t fix perception by pretending perception issues don’t exist, you take actions that prove those perception issues either never were or no longer are valid concerns. Google making a promise like this would’ve worked towards that goal.
Maybe; ultimately I don’t think this would’ve mattered much. Google is Alphabet’s software tech company and YouTube integration and general Google Ecosystem integration were selling points. If they ever properly leveraged having the Google Assistant integrate into games (like they posed) that would’ve been a really cool feature.
I mean it tooks Stadia like 3 years to get a search bar. It screamed of a promising product that had a rocky launch, and rather than investing in it (ala No Man’s Sky) they reduced it to a skeleton crew and went all shocked pikachu when that didn’t result in something gamers embraced.
Sweetie, you don’t just get heavy-hitting exclusives right out the gate.
In what world does Google shell out enough cash for a game that’s so good it pulls people to Stadia when the developers can just sell their good game on already-proven platforms?
They’d have to make their own studio or contract it out. I never saw Google shelling out $50m for a AAA game, and small-time shit is stuff people can just get on their phones.
That’s the point. They started their own game studio when Stadia was launched and shut it down about a year later.
They also paid a lot of money for some of the licenses they got in the early days of Stadia. And then someone a pay grade or two above decided to stop this and suffocate the little bit of momentum the platform had gained.
Yup, he’s the absolute worst. I can’t think of a single product that Google has even improved during his tenure as CEO… let alone a product that he successfully launched on his own. All he can do is make existing products more expensive.
Look at how he completely lost his shit when chatgpt was released - probably a huge part of the reason he lost it is cause he realized he’d have to actually do something useful instead of just squeezing more blood from the collective stone of all Google’s existing products. His claim to fame is creating Chrome. What fucking good is that? Web browsers have existed since the time he was born. There’s nothing to innovate there, and there never has been. It’s clear: he’s not an innovator.
Whoever takes over after he’s gone is going to be in for a hell of a time. The only thing he’s created for Google is a shit-ton of anti-trust lawsuits. The company is an empty husk at this point. There’s nothing left for them to become.
From a shareholder’s perspective, which is the only perspective C suite executives care about, he’s been the best CEO of all time for Google.
Sure, in the short term. I’ve switched to DDG and I’m not getting another Pixel when I need a new phone, and hoards of tech savvy people are feeling the same way. Dissatisfaction is causing them to lose customers and talent.
Eventually, they’ll start feeling it in their bottom line. And by then it might be too late to change course.
When you’re ready for a new phone, check out the Fairphone! I got that with CalyxOS. Works and feels just like Pixel, but super private 👍
Fairphone is amazing but will they ever launch outside of the EU?
Not sure where you’re located but I live in the USA and have it. I just ordered the phone int and then signed up with a US carrier.
Google became Apple
Has he increased short term profitability?
Was GO made during Pichai’s tenure? I don’t use GO but apparently they got the guy who wrote C on it so…?
No, Go dates back to when Eric Schmidt was running things.