Google

You get to interact with extremely experienced and bright engineers, amazing tools. You learn robust processes, read the best design docs, etc.

There is no prioritization at the company or sense of mission. How Google works is by making thousands of tiny incremental changes to dozens of products that no one cares about and which don't make the world a better place.

Google's leadership is completely insulated from what people actually want.

One example is that for the entirety of my term (2020-2023), I've heard the narrative that "Google Search isn't as good as it used to be." The reaction of top Search leadership was essentially: "Well, not according to our metrics. We'll keep on building Search how we see fit."

Then, ChatGPT comes along and installed a new narrative – that it could do things better than Google. That narrative caught on, not because OpenAI has better tech or because ChatGPT is a good product, but because Google has not addressed those earlier critics and has just been pushing its own vision of Search.

1. Your users are the ~3 billion individuals that interact with your products daily. Not the cloud customers. Not the 100 top advertisers. Focus on delivering value to these people.

2. When Apple released Apple Maps, people demanded Google Maps on Apple, kicking and screaming. Yet, Google invests tons of resources in creating a differentiated experience for Android users, and more, for people living in an Android ecosystem with home devices, cars, TVs, etc., all integrated in Android. It's not working. Focus on great products that can work on all platforms as opposed to throwing unlimited $$ at the myth of an Android ecosystem.

3. In 2023, post-hiring freeze and layoffs, the way recruiting and performance works is no longer relevant. The fact that there can be layoffs in an organization like Google shatters the angular (lol) stone on which the entire HR philosophy rests. "Impact" is meaningless at Google as any project or even organization can be killed. The way engineers are recruited assumes that they are the rare resource. All of this needs to be reinvented from the ground up.