Can startups beat Google?
In 2004, Google was already a goliath when it comes to data. It had money, servers, network infrastructure, leadership, brand power and everything else. However, over the next decade and more they desperately watched the upstarts Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and others compete happily among themselves not even noticing Google’s presence.
Google desperately tried Google videos and then had to concede defeat and buy Youtube. They failed at Orkut, Google+, Buzz. They tried with billions in pocket, but failed to even be considered a viable competitor in that category. They had an answers tool that was the ugly, unused cousin of Quora. They had the Knol to compete with Wikipedia and you would just laugh it out. They had Wave in a clueless way that Slack just perfected. They had location tools and so many other categories where they pushed out.
Instagram came with a photo app and in months made Picasa look like a ugly dinosaur. Most importantly, Whatsapp came in the category — messenger — that was the heart of all the major tech companies. Google had its chat and same with Yahoo, Microsoft, Facebook etc. However, Whatsapp treated these existing messengers like flies squatting on a wall just shooed away by the majestic WhatsApp. And their competitor is Telegram and the traditional silicon valley majors all looked totally incompetent and out of the picture.
