Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing

Google vs Microsoft on the browser, cloud, and mobile platforms

Google is an amazing company, even more so from the inside. To the outside world Google is just search. But Google has made three big bets on the future of computing; Chrome (browser), Google Apps (cloud), and Android (mobile) that will change everything. VentureBeat interviewed me yesterday about my first month at Google.

Vibe – Google is a high energy environment. Lots of smart people with big ideas. Everything is data driven. Decisions are made based on data that has been analyzed, and going forward everything is monitored and measured based on the data. Opinions and “gut feel” are considered too, but in the end, results are measured by data. Even things like travel expense caps for airfares and hotels are data driven. They keep track of every trip taken and the actual costs for airfares and hotels, then establish the caps based on the data.

The Google campus is beautiful, funky, and efficient. There are bicycles everywhere for people to use to get between buildings. In some ways it feels like a college campus, but the intensity level is much higher. Most people sit in open cubes with four or more people in a pod. Offices with doors typically have 2 or 3 people in them. People work in groups and there is a real sense of teamwork everywhere you look.

Perks – Free breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the gourmet cafes in each building. The food is awesome!! The 401K match is 50% of your contribution up to $8,250. Health plan is pretty good, but not as good as Microsoft’s plan. MSFT pays for everything, no co-pays, no deductibles. Google really caters to employees needs. Onsite dry cleaning service, car washes, Oil changes, ATM, Fitness Centers, Haircuts, Massage, and Concierge services.

Meetings - 30 minutes is the standard, start on time and end early if possible. Video Conferences are pretty standard since the company is geographically distributed. Nearly every conference room has video conference equipment. Everyone uses Google Docs to capture meeting notes, a true example of real time collaboration.

Gmail – The Gmail you all use as consumers is the same email all Google employees use internally. Threaded conversations are a HUGE time saver and help keep things organized. I didn’t really appreciate that feature until my departure from Microsoft when my email inbox was flooded with messages many with the same subject line. Gmail made it easy to manage. Links, not attachments, also ensure that you are always working with the latest version of a file. No more searching for the email with the attachment and then making sure it is the latest version with up to date changes. Offline Gmail makes all your email and attachments available offline. Great for airplanes or travel.

The future of computing – I think Google has made three big bets on the future of computing; Chrome (browser), Google Apps (cloud), and Android (mobile). The trends are pretty clear. All the exciting new applications are running in the browser, with application code in the cloud, and the cell phone as the platform. Your cell phone will become your primary computer. I think in the near future there will be docking stations everywhere with a screen and a keyboard. You simply pull out your phone, plug it into the docking station, and instantly all your applications and data are available to you. Chrome, Google Apps, and Android make this vision possible.

Think about the cell phone you had 10 years ago, in 1999, and compare it to the phone you have today. More power, more memory, better networks, more applications, etc. Now project 5 or 10 years ahead. The vision of your phone as your computer is not far off. You will be able to decide which applications and data you want resident on the phone and which you want in the cloud. You will be able to plug it in anywhere; in an airport, hotel, airplane, office lobby, etc, and have instant access to everything you need.

2010 the turning point - I think 2010 will be the year that enterprises of all sizes start their transition to Gmail and Google Apps, and take their first steps towards the vision of the future. The move towards Cloud Computing is obvious. Gmail and Google Apps are the easy first steps in that direction. The cost savings are enormous,over $500 per user per year. Compare that to buying software licenses and maintenance from the old style software giants, and add the costs of server hardware, and IT managers to run them.

The next 5 years are going to be exciting. There will be big changes in the software industry. I am thrilled to be at Google and look forward to being a small part of the movement to the future of computing.

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Gmail offline access fully supported, and more cool stuff from Gmail Labs

Gmail is my new email client after 5 years on Microsoft Outlook. One of the knocks against Gmail was that you couldn’t use it offline. Not anymore. Offline Gmail has been available via Gmail Labs for over a year, and now is a fully supported feature of Gmail. File attachments are also available for offline viewing. Gmail has all the features I need to handle my heavy email usage. One of the great features of Gmail is automatic consolidation of conversations into one thread. I didn’t really appreciate that feature until my departure from Microsoft when my email inbox was flooded with messages many with the same subject line. Gmail made it easy to manage.

To set up Offline Gmail simply click the Settings link in the top-right corner of Gmail. Click the "Offline" tab. Select "Enable Offline Mail for this computer." Then click “Save Changes”. It will take a few minutes to download all your emails and attachments the first time. After that it will happen automatically in the background.

New features every week, not once every 3 years – Gmail Labs has 54 features currently available for testing and use. Because Gmail is a cloud application it can be updated with new features continuously. Client based applications like Microsoft Outlook only release once every 3 or 4 years, so there can be a long wait for new features. One of the cool new features available from Gmail Labs is called “Mark unread from here”. Sometimes email threads can get pretty long…too long to read in one sitting.

When you enable Mark Unread From Here from the Labs tab under Settings, you'll see a new "Mark unread from here" option in the drop down menu found in the upper right-hand corner of messages.

Clicking this option on a message tells Gmail that you want that message to be the first one you see when you reopen the thread later, with all messages after it open for easy reading. So, when you leave partway through reading a long thread, figuring out where to start reading again is easy. Give it a try and share your thoughts.

Check out the Google Apps blog for news, trips, and updates from the Google Apps team, and check out the Gmail Labs stuff by clicking on “Settings” in Gmail and Selecting “Labs”.

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Investor Board members add value to startups at 5 key points

Board of Directors can add great value if they focus on the right things. I have served on over a dozen BOD’s over the years and have found 5 key inflection points that matter in the evolution of a startup; 1)raising money, 2)hiring top talent, 3)getting initial customers, 4)doing strategic business development deals, and 5)Exit and acquisition.

The monthly Board meetings are necessary for guidance and fiduciary responsibility to fellow investors. Small course corrections can be made, and some tough choices can be debated. Boards can give some comfort to startup CEOs that they are on the right track, and really encourage them when they are down, or feel alone. These are all important things for startup CEOs. But, the 5 key inflection points are where Board members can have the most impact.

Raising money – It is always tough to raise money. Don’t let anyone kid you about that. The stories of raising more money than you need in a week are “one in a million” and usually only happen to serial entrepreneurs who are rock stars. For the rest of us raising money involves finding the right investors who have experience in your market segment and have a personal relationship with you. Investors invest in what they know and who they know. See “Why Investors say no 99% of the time…and you do too”

Hiring Talent – Good investors have great networks of people they know and have worked with in the past. Hiring the executive team and top contributors is key to the success of the company. Investors should be able to add value here and save a lot of time. At a minimum, good Board members should be able to interview top hires, give good advice, and get good background information on potential hires.

First customers – Getting your first customers can be the hardest part of starting a company. Choosing the right customers can determine success or failure. The “right customers” are the ones that are excited about your technology solution, want to be a part of shaping the vision, willing to take risks, and be patient with deployment. These traits are of less importance with a free web application, but still do come into play. Board members many times have trusted relationships with CIOs or big company execs that can make this whole process much easier for startups.

Business Development – A few key business development deals can put a new startup on the map. Again, Board members often know key people in big companies and can help move the process along. Big deals like this can sometimes constrain a startup, or take it in a whole different direction. This can sometimes lead to painting yourself into a corner, and ultimate failure. Good Board members can see this coming and prevent it from happening.

Acquisition / Exit – Every investor writes a check with the end goal of a successful exit. Only a tiny percentage of companies end up as stand alone “cash flow” companies that never go public or get acquired. Unfortunately, for most investors, the most common exit is a total failure or wipe out. We don’t talk about it much since investors are eternal optimists, but it is the most likely outcome. Board members can have the most impact and value by getting involved in planning the exit. Successful investors have done lots of exits, while most startup entrepreneurs are lucky to do it once in their lives. Experience matters in this case. It can sometimes make sense to pass on a $30M acquisition proposal and hold out for a better unknown exit 3 years down the line. The future is always unknown. Board members with vision and experience can rely on some guideposts to help navigate the way to success.

Advice to entrepreneurs – When you are deciding on your investors or choosing Board members, ask them how they can add value in these five key areas. Investors need to bring more to the table than just writing a check. Board members need to add value beyond the casual advice at monthly board meetings.

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