Random thoughts: goals and company types in tech world
Start-up
One goal
May have multiple products but all products aimed at a single goal.
All teams are working towards the same goal.
Diversified
Multiple similar goals
Have several products (or several part of single product) aimed towards different goals.
Teams gain by helping each other.
The goals to some extent are complementary but (naturally with time) diverges away from each other.
The tipping point comes when the goals become orthogonal and thus, any bonding between teams working on (orthogonal) goals goes to zero.
Diworsified(*)
Multiple conflicting goals
Multiple products, success of one will kill market for the other.
Teams gain at the expense of other teams, conflicts are high.
Interestingly, the most influential people in the company control revenue-generating goals (whose best days were in the past) and they prevent company from focusing on goals aimed at smaller but fast growing areas.
* – word courtesy Peter Lynch
nice thoughts..