Google’s recent layoffs are just one artifact of a corporate structure that has accumulated baggage. Employee Ownership fixes this. This post takes a deductive approach towards proposing a corporate structure rooted in the principle of “Don’t be evil”. Employee ownership has proven great for investors too in the long term.
In my post, I trace Google’s journey from 2004 to today.
In 2004, Google founders took a $1 salary, applied a world positive lens, and broke conventional norms on corporate governance. Result: Phenomenal shareholder returns
In 2023, the company has become an amalgamation of in-absentia founders with outsized controlling votes, execs & employees incentivized on short 2 to 3 year timeframe, and investors driving from the backseat. Result: Layoffs and cognitive dissonance on growth story
On layoffs: Punishing execs for conducting layoffs is not going to fix anything. Even the broader equity compensation structure is broken. It is not the same as true employee ownershipMy post explains why employee-ownership rooted in the principle of “Don’t be evil” is the right solution for Google. More broadly, #EmployeeOwnership has proven successful for investors too.
Learn more by reading my post. I’d love to hear what others think about employee ownership at Google, and even more generally.
#layoffs #googlelayoffs #metalayoffs #amazonlayoffs #microsoftlayoffs #bigtech #google #SMB #silvertsunami #businessowners #incentives
Links to topics mentioned in the blog post:
Full text of previous post in the series: Ok Googlers! What will you do about layoffs?
Full text of this post in the series: Here's a moonshot: Make Google Employee Owned
Twitter thread of this post: (coming soon)
Create Amazing book info
Links to the audiobook version of "Create Amazing" at Bay Area libraries: Mountain View | Palo Alto | Santa Clara
Recent federal and state support for employee ownership
