Google’s success story is a rarity - not many companies are able to pull off what they have, going from a simple search engine to one of the wealthiest, most innovative and best known companies in the world. But while most businesses may not be the next Google, smart ones will learn from Google’s business model, which is in large part responsible for the tech giant’s rapid growth.
From a brilliant advertising model to unique employee perks to an inclusive corporate culture and even a willingness to fail, Google’s way of getting things done provides valuable lessons for other tech companies. Forward-thinking businesses look to them for examples of how to move beyond old constraints and operate in a new and more exciting environment. Here are 10 ways smart tech companies are learning from and emulating Google.
1. Capturing Dangling Value
U.S. News and World Report zeroed in recently on Google’s ability to “capture dangling value,” or find alternative ways to monetize services that have gone from costing a premium to being low-cost or free. Though people used to pay companies such as AOL and Microsoft for online services such as web browsing and email, Google gained millions of users by offering these services for free. Through this, the company attracted a strong following and found other ways to make money, such as advertising revenue. The majority of Google’s revenue now comes from AdWords, which allows advertisers to target customers based on keywords they use when browsing Google. U.S. News noted that another company that has cashed in by capturing dangling value is Netflix, which provided a low-cost, convenient alternative to renting movies (and paying late fees) at a rental store.
2. Perfecting Your Craft
Google wasn’t the first search engine in the game, but they quickly established themselves as the best and have held onto that title to the present. Startup Nation notes that while Google has since released new products and services, “their search engine and search technology was innovative in the beginning and continues to be innovative today.” The consistently easy-to-use and reliable service established trust and loyalty with Google’s user base, and allowed the company to grow into what it is today, a world leader in innovation and creativity.
3. Risk-taking and Innovating
There’s a reason Google tops numerous “world’s most innovative company lists” year after year. Sure, they’ve had some flops - remember Google Wave? - but they’ve also had a lot of successes and are unafraid to push the envelope. With Google’s driverless cars and Google Glass on the horizon, the company is set to make history with its inventions. Whether or not they succeed, they’ll continue moving the company, and the global tech scene, forward by banking on what once seemed impossible. Establishing a strong user base and solid revenue stream provides a solid foundation from which the company can grow.
4. Avoiding Complacency
Google didn’t just “rest on their laurels,” so to speak. Even once they became the clear winner when it came to search engine popularity, they didn’t take it for granted that users would stick with them. Google continued to improve functionality, and consistently deliver on the thing that made them famous in the first place. Google offers quality products and services across the board, which is another reason it has gained respect. As Project Eve, a site for female entrepreneurs, put it: “Google dominates because it focuses on users first. It gives users value.” Companies that hope to emulate Google’s success, or see even a fraction of it, know they need to operate with the same integrity and willingness to innovate regularly, continually reaffirming users’ trust and loyalty.
5. Hold Smart Meetings
Google doesn’t get hung up on out-dated formalities or operate with a stiff hierarchy bogged down by pointless meetings, and other tech companies serious about success follow suit. 99u noted that the tenets of Google meetings are that there is a clear decision maker at each one: no more than 10 people are involved, decision-making is prioritized over formal meeting schedules (meaning action is taken when necessary, not put off until a previously scheduled session), and focus is key - unnecessary products and meetings are cancelled in favour of channelling energy into what’s important.
6. Correlating Data
Companies have more access to information about consumers’ preferences, interests and needs than ever before, and smart ones will harness that information to create products catered directly to specific industries. Business Insider called out Google as being particularly good at this, saying they keep “records of everything we do with its online services and finds new ways to use that data.” The publication predicted that with the ever-increasing amount of available information, more companies will do as Google does and find ways to turn that into a lucrative service. Examples of those already in the big data game include The Numbers.com, which collects information on major Hollywood films and producers to predict movies’ financial success rates, and Inrix, which works with major car companies to collect traffic pattern information that is then used by city planners.
7. Smart Hiring
Google’s doesn’t favour degrees over ideas, and prides itself on hiring across a broad spectrum of backgrounds, interests, languages and expertise. Having a dynamic and diverse workforce means people bring unique perspectives to bear during brainstorming sessions. By placing value on people with the right attitude and who have the right personality to work well at Google, the company can foster an atmosphere of inclusiveness and collaboration. As Google itself puts it, “We strive to maintain the open culture often associated with start-ups, in which everyone is a hands-on contributor and feels comfortable sharing ideas and opinions.”
8. Employee-Friendly Corporate Culture
Naturally, a company with a progressive view on hiring wouldn’t stop there. Google’s corporate culture includes employee perks rare or unheard of in other companies - free breakfast, lunch and dinner, yoga sessions, and laundry services, to name a few. In an interview with CBS, a couple of Google execs responsible for tracking how different employee perks affect productivity shared that everything that’s offered, every aspect of the office culture, is analyzed to see how it’s benefiting employees and the company. This allows managers to figure out ways to motivate their teams, and fosters a healthy environment within the company. Nap pods and treadmill desks are just a few of the ways Google keeps things fresh.
9. Proactive Team
Where many companies have an established hierarchy in which only the higher-ups can take serious action or make the call on going forward with an idea, Google encourages team members to “ask forgiveness, not permission,” according to one former Googler. In a piece for CNBC, she said that Google employees have the freedom to go after an idea without needing to seek approval and go through a complex chain of command before moving on it. The takeaway for other businesses: “Reward employees for taking initiative, and treat their missteps as any other failure - something to learn from, but not to dwell on.”
10. Willingness to Fail, and Fast
This same author emphasized Google’s willingness to take risks, and to fail. Indeed, this is one of Google’s Eight Pillars of Innovation. Senior Vice President of Advertising & Commerce Susan Wojcicki wrote that “[i]t’s okay to fail as long as you learn from your mistakes and correct them fast… Knowing that it’s okay to fail can free you up to take risks. And the tech industry is so dynamic that the moment you stop taking risks is the moment you get left behind.“
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