Thursday, August 25, 2005
Usurping Microsoft, Google becomes new 'evil empire' - Technology - International Herald Tribune:
"SAN FRANCISCO For years, Silicon Valley hungered for a company mighty enough to beat Microsoft. Now it has one such contender: the phenomenally successful Google.
But instead of embracing Google as one of their own, many in Silicon Valley are skittish about its size and power. They fret that the very strengths that made Google a search-engine phenomenon are distancing it from the entrepreneurial culture that produced it.
A year after the company went public, those inside Google are learning the hard way what it means to be the top dog in a culture accustomed to pulling for the underdog. And they are facing a hometown crowd that generally rebels against anything that smacks of corporate behavior.
Nowadays, when venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and technologists gather in Silicon Valley, they often find themselves grousing about Google, complaining about everything from a hoarding of top engineers to its treatment of partners and potential partners. The word 'arrogant' is frequently used...
...Google, Hoffman said, has caused "across the board a 25 to 50 percent salary inflation for engineers in Silicon Valley" - or at least those in a position to weigh competing offers. A sought-after computer programmer can now expect to make more than $150,000 a year...
...Google is also making it more difficult for some start-ups to raise funds. In the second half of the 1990s, entrepreneurs frequently complained that the specter of Microsoft hung over their every conversation with venture capitalists. Today, they say the same about Google.
"When I meet with venture capitalists, or if I'm engaged in a conversation about going into partnership with someone, inevitably the question is, 'Why couldn't Google do what you're doing?"' said Craig Donato, the founder and chief executive of Oodle, a site that allows users to search online classified listings more quickly.
"The answer is, 'They could, and they're probably thinking about it, but they can't do everything and do it well,"' Donato said. "Or at least I'm hoping they can't."...
..."Google is the new evil empire, because they're in such a powerful position in terms of control.
"They have potential monopolistic control over access to information.""
"SAN FRANCISCO For years, Silicon Valley hungered for a company mighty enough to beat Microsoft. Now it has one such contender: the phenomenally successful Google.
But instead of embracing Google as one of their own, many in Silicon Valley are skittish about its size and power. They fret that the very strengths that made Google a search-engine phenomenon are distancing it from the entrepreneurial culture that produced it.
A year after the company went public, those inside Google are learning the hard way what it means to be the top dog in a culture accustomed to pulling for the underdog. And they are facing a hometown crowd that generally rebels against anything that smacks of corporate behavior.
Nowadays, when venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and technologists gather in Silicon Valley, they often find themselves grousing about Google, complaining about everything from a hoarding of top engineers to its treatment of partners and potential partners. The word 'arrogant' is frequently used...
...Google, Hoffman said, has caused "across the board a 25 to 50 percent salary inflation for engineers in Silicon Valley" - or at least those in a position to weigh competing offers. A sought-after computer programmer can now expect to make more than $150,000 a year...
...Google is also making it more difficult for some start-ups to raise funds. In the second half of the 1990s, entrepreneurs frequently complained that the specter of Microsoft hung over their every conversation with venture capitalists. Today, they say the same about Google.
"When I meet with venture capitalists, or if I'm engaged in a conversation about going into partnership with someone, inevitably the question is, 'Why couldn't Google do what you're doing?"' said Craig Donato, the founder and chief executive of Oodle, a site that allows users to search online classified listings more quickly.
"The answer is, 'They could, and they're probably thinking about it, but they can't do everything and do it well,"' Donato said. "Or at least I'm hoping they can't."...
..."Google is the new evil empire, because they're in such a powerful position in terms of control.
"They have potential monopolistic control over access to information.""
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