Would You Do It, if You Had the Chance?

Google (see chart here) is 10 years old.  That’s right, it was just 1998 that $100,000 was invested to start up Google (read article here).  Today the company is worth almost $150billion, and its two 35 year old founders have stakes valued at approximately $19billion each. 

Now that Google is so successful, it’s easy to say "of course."  But think about it.  In 1998 the leaders in internet search were Microsoft, Lycos and Yahoo!  At that time would you have taken the bet that this start-up company would succeed against the much larger and enormously better financed competitors?  What’s more, would you have bet that the start-up could build a fortune by placing ads on the internet? 

Now let’s put the shoe on the other foot.  Imagine you were offered a job in 1998 to work at Google.  Would you have been able to project the company could be a $10billion revenue company in 10  years?  Would you have been able to look into the future, analyze weaknesses in competitors, and say "this could be the most influential company in technology in 10 years?"  Or, would you have been more likely to say "given our humble beginnings, if we can achieve $10million revenue in 5 years we will be extremely successful.  After that, if we can grow at 12% per year we will exceed industry average growth and be very pleased"?

There’s an old saying, "it’s not where you start the race, it’s where you finish that counts."  Most of us are leary of looking into the future, seeking out competitive weakness and undertaking Disruption to do new things. We are more comfortable doing what we’ve done in the past, setting low expectations we can likely meet and doing all planning based upon our past history.  And that approach means that even if you have all the technology, skill, market opportunity and resources of Google you still won’t be Google – because you’ll never achieve that success.  You’ll be bounded by your past Success Formula to do no better than you did in the past, and therefore the opportunity will go to someone else.

Now Google is not only selling internet ads, it’s selling TV ads to NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen and Dish network (read article here.)  Last week Google launched a new internet browser (Chrome) in direct competition with Firefox and Internet Explorer.  Just 10 years old, Google isn’t just a search engine company, it’s in several businesses with White Space flourishing in several markets.  But this is only possible because

1. Google is totally focused on the future.  It doesn’t plan from the past.  It isn’t focused on its "core" markets, or how to maintain its share in historical businesses.  Google plans for a future using scenarios about what is likely to happen – and what "can be."
2. Google is obsessed about competitors.  It doesn’t just look to defend its old business, but rather stuides all competitors to see what opportunities are created.  It doesn’t hesitate to buy companies like DoubleClick and YouTube.  And it doesn’t hesitate to take on Locked-in competitors like Microsoft.
3. Google is ready to Disrupt itself, and the markets it enters.  Google embraces Disruption, rather than avoiding it.  Rather than "stick to its knitting" in search it jumps into markets like browsers where it can be Disruptive.
4. Google is loaded with White Space.  That White Space allows Google to constantly develop new Success Formulas that grow the company at a stratospheric rate.

Every executive in every company has the opportunity to run a Google.  The trick is to get out of Lock-in.  To move from thinking that the future has to be about old markets, old ways of competing, and about doing more of the same but faster, better and cheaper.  To be a Google means getting the business into the Rapids of growth, wherever those Rapids may be.  Creating a Google means shedding old notions about "core focus" and using future scenarios to lead you into high growth opportunities – the willingness to Disrupt old patterns to consider new things – and keeping White Space very active to grow into new markets.

After all, that’s what the leaders did at Virgin and Nike – a couple of other companies that have grown beyond everyone’s expectation.  So, would you do it if you had the chance?  Or would you remain Locked-in to Defending & Extending your past even if it means results are suboptimal?