Alphabet: The A-Z of Google’s discomfort
Overnight Google created a new company Alphabet as an umbrella brand for all its business arms. Matt Farrugia looks at what the decision means, and what others can learn from it.
Following today’s announcement of Google becoming ‘Alphabet’, the world is abuzz as to what has motivated the decision.
Why are they doing this? How will this affect my business/clients? What can we learn? Should we do the same?
Like many, I’ve followed Google since I was a pimply-faced, dialup user on Netscape. When creating an email account involved a CD-ROM. Right up until today; learning from their innovation, using many of their products, and working with them for clients and staff.
Nice one farrugia. too many of us in aus are comfortable!
The holding company is new but the desire to create an organisation more akin to Warren Buffett’s Berskhire Hathaway extends back at least last October when Larry Page told the FT that he saw Google’s future in making bets in a series of unrelated markets like Berkshire does.
Today competitive advantage is fleeting. Firms need to continually generate new sources of advantage by anticipating, being pro-active and looking for ways to convert change into opportunity. The past is no longer a reliable guide to the future instead we’d do better to adopt a continually evolving approach to the environment. And to imagine possible futures via scenario analysis – hence the big product bets on the future.
Google’s founders, Page and Brin move now from a day-to-day involvement to becoming heads of the new holding company. Splitting the companies should provide better corporate governance allowing investors to see just how much money is being invested in the next big thing. And how the search and advertising businesss can be protected and evolve.
It will be very interesting to see how this pans out.