Pretty much every time Verizon wanders outside of its core competencies (operating telecom networks, lobbying to hamstring competition, undermining the most basic of regulatory oversight)…
Kind of sad really. A large bureaucracy buys a company to bring some innovation internally, or capitalize on a market trend. But the internal bureaucracy and politics overwhelmed the new organization, so it can no longer compete externally and internally it has no backers. And fails.
I think it’s a mark of a good organization if they can onboard an external company, and that company stays viable long-term.
A while back, I (with a few others) built and sold an innovative tech company to a large “enterprise”. What you’re describing is exactly why they bought us and how things played out post acquisition. I’ve since left, but the thing we built is now in shambles, buried and suffocated by bureaucracy and institutional ineptitude. The parent company has learned nothing, continues to keep buying smaller tech companies, and can’t seem to figure out why things always turn to shit.
Kind of sad really. A large bureaucracy buys a company to bring some innovation internally, or capitalize on a market trend. But the internal bureaucracy and politics overwhelmed the new organization, so it can no longer compete externally and internally it has no backers. And fails.
I think it’s a mark of a good organization if they can onboard an external company, and that company stays viable long-term.
A while back, I (with a few others) built and sold an innovative tech company to a large “enterprise”. What you’re describing is exactly why they bought us and how things played out post acquisition. I’ve since left, but the thing we built is now in shambles, buried and suffocated by bureaucracy and institutional ineptitude. The parent company has learned nothing, continues to keep buying smaller tech companies, and can’t seem to figure out why things always turn to shit.
Large organizations (no matter the sector) are almost always just coasting on momentum, there’s no innovation possible.
Even fairly small companies quickly develop such a gigantic administration overhead, that they quickly turn to stone.
This is the other side of the bullshit jobs book.
Red Hat comes to mind for me. Will IBM kill it over time? We shall see.
Interestingly we’ve been using blue jeans at red hat for years!
👀