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There certainly is a product management lesson in here

It’s not enough to launch a product, you need conviction, and skin in the game, that the product is a good idea. And when your bets don’t pay off, you need to pivot like your life depends on it.

Google could never succeed with stadia (or other big bets) if there’s little downside risk for those involved to its failure. Instead of digging deep and getting creative with the model, they can shrug and give up.

You can’t give people amazing comfort and stability then expect them to take outsized risks.




> You can’t give people amazing comfort and stability then expect them to take outsized risks.

This statement doesn't make any sense to me. Who's going to try crazy new maneuvers on the trapeze, the person with the safety net or the one without?

Perhaps you meant to say that you can't expect people to iterate on their business model like their life depends on it...well, I'm sorry to inform you but that rarely happens even in the startup world. People routinely shrug and give up, some return money to investors, and everyone moves on.


The better metaphor is if there’s always a safety net it doesn’t matter whether you stay on the tight rope. You can give up whenever you want.


What is the upside at google if the thing you got promoted for three years ago (and are no longer working on) takes off this year?




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