Google has discontinued a total of 205 products so far. I think their survival rate is pretty close to the startup average.
There have been well more than 205 failed startups in the last 10 years and so many more since G started. Google kill count is high but startup failure is much much higher
The difference is that originally there was a higher likelihood of trying out a Google product than a random startup's. Now that equation is flipped- I'd rather try a random startup's product than a Google one- at least the startup is going to live and die on making that product a success.
Google? It has to be a massive world spanning success or its a guaranteed goner.
Re:Tables: Tracking work for teams
by crazygringo on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @09:02PM
(#24561855)
> at least the startup is going to live and die on making that product a success.
I'm going to respectfully disagree.
Whether a product is being funded by Google or a VC, I'd argue they have a similar desire to make money, or else cut funding.
If a product looks like a failure, the startup isn't going to keep it going or try harder -- the VC's will want to cut their losses.
I honestly don't think there's much of a difference at all. It's the same types of executive tech people making the decisions at the end of the day no matter if it's at a VC or a Megacorp.
A VC-funded startup needs to be a runaway success. A million dollar idea isn't even going to get funding in the valley.
I, not sure if absolute numbers are worth looking at. What are the %s.
I thought that would be understood implicitly - how many google products do you know, maybe 10 to 20? That’s a < 10% success rate, pretty comparable to startups in general.
Startups don't usually have the backing of unlimited funds and warm bodies so it isn't really a fair comparison to make.
How many products has Microsoft discontinued?
Re:Tables: Tracking work for teams
by sundarurfriend on Wednesday September 23, 2020 @03:46AM
(#24564187)
We aren't comparing Google with random startups picked blindly though. I can only speak for myself, but any startup product I use gets chosen after a bunch of research, into their track record, their user interactions, their apparent stability, etc. While none of that can guarantee startup success, I'm more confident in going with a startup product that has been selected this way, than with Google.
I'm not sure how many years a startup needs to be around though before it's likelyhood of survival surpasses that of a new google product.