Moonshot Alpha Bet
The surprise Google restructure was greeted well. Here’s a selection of three such quotes, from London’s Times of the day.
“a smart way to ensure that the company’s core search engine, advertising and youtube businesses would not be overwhelmed by its raft of ‘moonshot’ projects”
“media moguls typically have dual structures to protect editorial independence and lock out meddlers”
“although few of Google’s ‘alpha bets’ have become commercial successes yet (remember Google Glass?) I, for one, applaud them for their effort”
It’s difficult to truly love Google.
Like Microsoft before them, they’ve never been the true innovator but the second-in follower so renowned for making all the money.
They weren’t the first to do ‘search’, result ads or vid streams in the same way MS invented neither PC, ‘windows’ nor office automation. Yet they both exploited better than the originators.
Then there’s the hypocrisy surrounding their “don’t do evil” mantra.
They are a company with more money than they know what to do with.
So they play with labs and start-ups and wild dreams in the hope of finding the next big thing. In PR terms they throw up such most weeks.
It’s easy to warm to their re-organisation.
It lights the way for many a new product push in our solution sale universe.
Too often – ie, pretty much always – a shiny new lifesaver is introduced to the whole team to go out and sell sell sell together at once.
I’m rarely an advocate of this approach.
I like Piloting.
Of the market test, soft launch, anti-big-bang kind.
It works.
A culture of hiving off the ‘new’ permits all sorts of advantages. From distraction removed and meddling thwarted to greater transparency and moonland-ready release.
If you’ve a sizeable team, construct your own ABC for trying all those new methods and ideas out. Whether they be product tweaks, market assaults or selling tactic trials.
If you’re a solo sellonaut, how about creating a small galaxy of prospects with which to give different thoughts your rocket-powered flight whilst you orbit the day job.
And get closer to one step for salesman, one giant leap for sales.