Google Exodus Beginning?
Google is losing some highly skilled employees lately, in what they must hope is not the start of a very dangerous trend.
Kevin Fox, former Senior User Experience Design Lead on projects like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Reader (the newer, successful version), Blogger, Google Groups, Page Creator, and founder of the Search and apps User Experience review committee, has left the company for a startup. Google has clearly lost an important, if not the most important, employee involved with the look and feel of Google products. Losing a guy like Kevin is by far the opposite of a good thing.
In announcing his departure, Kevin points to the good things about Google, that it was the first place he felt like he was part of the company, not just working for it. Still, he says he feels a need for “greater fulfillment” that he apparently can’t get at Google, but can at his new job at FriendFeed. FriendFeed’s founder and the writer of that blog post I linked to is Paul Buchheit. That name may sound familiar, because Paul was the creator and lead developer on Gmail, and he credits Kevin with putting the pieces together, without which, Gmail would never have shipped.
See something going on there? Often, startups will be staffed or even founded by multiple employees who have left a big company. We see it from Microsoft all the time, and Twitter is practically a Google/Blogger step-child as well. Paul, Google’s 23rd employee, left “Big G” (as Kevin calls it) to do something apparently more fullfilling than even Gmail, and he must be happy with it, because he convinced Kevin to follow him. If another Googler leaves for FriendFeed, it won’t shock anyone.
Also leaving? David Hirsch*, one of Google’s most senior salespeople. And Nathan Stoll, product manager for Google News. Plus Jason Shellen, who left Google in July, announced that he is joining LiveJournal as their new VP of Product Development.
Google isn’t going to all of a sudden lose all its employees, but it just isn’t the utopia the founders would like you to believe it is, and probably never was. As stock option vest and employees hit the Google Ceiling (Google doesn’t have a lot of management layers, which means employees don’t have a lot of room to get promoted), you’ll see some of the best and brightest Googlers leave to join a startup where they can leave their mark, not satisfied with the opportunities offered by Google.
* - not to be confused with my friend Dovid Hersh, who you don’t know and I’m mentioning for no reason
Definitely common at a lot of start-ups that reach their maturity stage. It’s good to see that they’re leaving in good terms, it still leaves lots of opportunities open for both companies to work together. That’s the way it should be!
Comment by Ainsworth Boyle | January 8, 2008
Your reasoning doesn’t make sense to me. Certainly, some employees–valued employees, at that–are bound to leave a company for many reasons. However, new talent is hired constantly (especially at Google), and at most companies, promotion does not equal “moving to management” necessarily, unless that is something that one wants to do. Promotion often means more responsibility but still in a contributing role.
Pointing to a few employee leaving as evidence that Google is not a “utopia,” and similarly as evidence that some of the “best and brightest” are “not satisfied” with opportunities at Google seems potentially specious.
“Very dangerous?”
Great people leave companies all the time; new great people take their places. There are exceptions but if you look at the history of most sizable and successful technology companies you’ll see the same, as you allude to in your post. Why the departure of a few folks from Google would be anything out of the ordinary, I’m not sure.
Comment by will | January 13, 2008
“Plus Jason Shellen, who left Google in July, announced that he is joining LiveJournal as their new VP of Product Development”
Right, but that fact gets a little less relevant when the Founder of LiveJournal Brad Fitzpatrick turned down an offer from Facebook to join Google……
Comment by Allison L | January 16, 2008
I am a former Google employee and I will confirm that it is happening and just the beginning! For those that are not aware…Google hired in masses from 2004-2007 (apx 6000) and this employee base was maybe “the brightest” on paper but most of them are young and their jobs are not very well defined. New hires from 2005-2008 will stay for no more than 2 years. There is a corporate shift taking place and 4 levels of management was created overnight Q2 2007 with the existing flat organization compressed to levels that are almost impossible for vested employees to rise to promotion. The stock price has started to level and new employment opportunities will become available with the free food and perks of Google. These employees from 2004 will cash-out and find new digs…and those from 2005 will have to make a decision to stay or go. It is simple supply and demand and when Google was young the number of employees were small…and if some left not an issue…however when 1000 leave in a year…that starts to flood the market job place. Before leaving I overheard a employee who was just hired say, “I just took the job to get Google on my resume for one year and then I am going to leave for a real-start up”. Yes new employees will replace the old and for Google this is great… a younger 22 with no life beyond Google will join at 1/2 the pay and work 60-70 a week…but that is ok because there is free food…( cost= .01)…and the stock price will continue to grow to $1000.
Comment by Jean (Jon) | February 8, 2008