• The Google CEO Question: Sundar Pichai’s tenure has been successful, but investors are questioning if he is the right person to lead the company in the face of a potential existential threat.
• Peacetime CEO/Wartime CEO: Ben Horowitz’s post explains the differences between the two types of CEOs, with the key distinction being that a Wartime CEO is paranoid about losing the advantage.
• Steve Ballmer and Peacetime CEOs: Steve Ballmer’s dismissal of the iPhone is a perfect example of a CEO focused on what he can do with a big advantage, but he should have been more paranoid about the threat of Android.
• About That Bard Mistake: Google’s Bard demonstration had an error, which was directly responsible for Google’s stock price decline. Bing and OpenAI got the answer right, suggesting the large language model was beneficial.
Published February 13, 2023
Visit Stratechery to read Ben Thompson’s original post The Google CEO Question, Steve Ballmer and Peacetime CEOs, About That Bard Mistake