So Google is restructuring which will see the business operate under a parent company, Alphabet. Confusing? Unnecessary? Or a great move? Personally, I believe this is a great move for Google – so often known as the search company or, even worse, the search company that dabbles in other stuff as well – as it truly separates their core business from their further goals; to discover, experiment and explore. It’s a bold move but it’s the right move for Google – a company I look up to in so many ways.
Google, the search company, along with YouTube and their Android operating system will remain under the Google brand, with the main change being the person in charge. Step up Sundar Pichai who, after serving as Google’s Senior Vice President of Products, is the new CEO.
So, why do this now? Google has effectively grown up. It’s a phenomenally successful global business that has delivered on a vast scale, however it’s a business that doesn’t want to, “get comfortable doing the same thing”, accordingly to Alphabet CEO, Larry Page. Technology is moving at a fast pace and this streamlined approach not only gives the founders the ability to spread their wings, it’s also a ringing endorsement to the existing Google business that its future is in safe hands. So, what does this mean for the founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin? “Sergey and I are seriously in the business of starting new things,” explained Page. This is Page and Brin’s opportunity to focus on the future – the group’s (even) bigger picture – whether that future is self-driving cars or extending human life span. These are two individuals that have got more to give to the world than search.
Personally, I’m excited by this move. Alphabet is meant to be a cleaner, more accountable holding company – for those interested, Alphabet was chosen as the company name because it represents the core of how they index with Google search. However, it’s not simply the streamlining of the various Alphabet businesses but the potential of what Brin and Page are going to introduce to the world in the coming years that truly excites me. From Nest and Fiber to the ever-mysterious Google X, this is Brin and Page’s opportunity to take on / create world changing technologies and businesses. And I, for one, want to see more of what these two have to offer.
