Re: Google (et al), "I’m purposely focusing on companies that got it all wrong."
As someone who's hired hundreds of people and worked to build three startups, I am increasingly of the opinion that it's critical to carefully study the hiring practices of companies that appear to employ a consistently high level of talent, like Google. And Google's talent base was one reason I thought the employees of my last startup would be happy there, and argued (to me) in favor of an acquisition by them. (Virtually all of them are still there, too.)
That said, entrepreneurs should take with a grain of salt any definitive pronouncements about hiring practices. In my experience, hiring and organizational design are not solved problems yet, by any means.
I think Google's interviewing process completely ignores someone's background and quickly tries to send you into the kind of Googler they would like you to be and see if you fit. They probably miss on having a diverse engineering force this way, which is a fine trade-off in an army.
As someone who's hired hundreds of people and worked to build three startups, I am increasingly of the opinion that it's critical to carefully study the hiring practices of companies that appear to employ a consistently high level of talent, like Google. And Google's talent base was one reason I thought the employees of my last startup would be happy there, and argued (to me) in favor of an acquisition by them. (Virtually all of them are still there, too.)
That said, entrepreneurs should take with a grain of salt any definitive pronouncements about hiring practices. In my experience, hiring and organizational design are not solved problems yet, by any means.