Hard to believe that only a decade back Google and Yahoo were equals. Today one is worth 15 times more than the rival that’s about to be swallowed by a predator.
The divergent paths of these internet trailblazers provides a case study future MBA students will pore over for decades. They are sure to reach the same conclusion we can: the different outcomes are a consequence of opposing views on how to prepare for tomorrow.
Ten years ago Yahoo opted to outsource its key infrastructure to service providers. Google opted to build internal capacity, like its own server farms. Hindsight shows this became a real life version of Aesop’s race between the hare and the tortoise – Yahoo screaming ahead in the short-term, but losing where it mattered.
There are lessons to be drawn in life, business and even for nations. Success requires long-range planning and an ability to resist pleasures of instant gratification. Slow and steady really does win the race. Even in this warp-speed world.
