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The Myth of Focus: How Google Proved That Doing Everything Can Work by Eric Schmidt
- Startup Bell
- Mar 21
- 8 min read
In the bustling landscape of business advice, one mantra reigns supreme: "Focus on one thing and do it well." Industry veterans, business professors, and seasoned entrepreneurs all seem to echo this sentiment with unwavering conviction. Yet, standing in stark contrast to this widely accepted wisdom is one of technology's most successful companies—Google—whose approach to focus might just change everything you thought you knew about business strategy.
The Counterintuitive Wisdom of Eric Schmidt
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt offers a refreshing perspective that challenges conventional thinking:
"Focus is important, but it's misinterpreted. In Google, we spent an awful lot of time telling people we wanted to do everything. And everyone said, you can't pull off everything. And we said, yes, we can.
Wait, what? Did one of the most successful tech executives just advocate for doing everything rather than focusing on one thing? This isn't your typical business advice—and that's precisely why it deserves our attention.
The Traditional Focus Narrative
The conventional wisdom has compelling evidence:
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the company was drowning in a sea of confusing products. His first move was ruthless simplification—cutting everything down to just four product lines. This clarity of purpose helped transform Apple from near-bankruptcy to becoming the most valuable company in the world.
Tesla began with luxury electric sports cars before moving down-market. Instagram focused solely on photo sharing before expanding to stories and video. The pattern seems consistent: start small, perfect one thing, expand later.
This approach makes intuitive sense. Limited resources demand concentrated effort. A startup spreading itself too thin risks doing many things poorly rather than one thing exceptionally well.
Google's Contrarian Path to Dominance
Yet Google's journey tells a different story. Yes, they began with a focus on search—and they perfected it. But instead of remaining "just a search company," they rapidly expanded into seemingly unrelated territories:
Gmail: When email offerings typically provided 2-4MB of storage, Google launched with a then-unthinkable 1GB. This wasn't a natural extension of search—it was a complete reinvention of email.
Google Maps: While competitors like MapQuest offered basic navigation, Google created an entirely new category of interactive mapping with satellite imagery, Street View, turn-by-turn navigation, and real-time traffic updates.
Android: Google had no history in mobile operating systems, yet they built and gave away Android for free, creating the world's most widely used mobile platform.
YouTube: Acquired in 2006 for $1.65 billion when many considered it an overpriced distraction, YouTube now generates estimated annual revenue of $15-20 billion.
None of these initiatives were obvious extensions of a search engine. Traditional focus advocates would have labeled them dangerous distractions. Yet each became a transformative product that reshaped its category.
The Secret Infrastructure Behind Google's Expansion
Why did Google succeed where others failed? Schmidt's explanation provides the key:
"Everyone said, you can't pull off everything. And we said, yes, we can. We have the underlying architectures. We have the underlying reach."
The Power of Scalable Foundations
Google didn't build isolated products—they built interconnected innovations leveraging shared foundations:
Massive computing infrastructure: The same data centers powering search could handle the demands of YouTube video processing, Gmail storage, or Maps data.
Algorithmic expertise: The pattern-matching capabilities developed for search could be applied to email spam filtering, video recommendations, or traffic prediction.
User data ecosystem: Each product enriched Google's understanding of user behavior, creating a virtuous cycle of improvement across all offerings.
Larry Page, Google co-founder, explained this approach in a 2013 interview:
"We're trying to build a platform that can innovate very quickly and respond to what people want... Most businesses ultimately fail because they get too comfortable doing one thing, they don't see the next threat coming, and they don't do anything about it."
This platform thinking created a multiplication effect—each new product strengthened existing ones rather than diluting focus.
The Moonshot Mentality: Betting on Transformation
Schmidt's philosophy included another critical element: pursuing projects with "great impact and importance to the world."
Google didn't chase random ideas. They targeted transformative opportunities—many of which weren't immediately profitable.
"We would pick areas of great impact and importance to the world, many of which were free, by the way. This is not necessarily revenue-driven, and that worked."
This mindset attracted visionaries who wanted to change the world, not just build incremental improvements. It created a culture where ambitious thinking was expected.
Consider Waymo, Google's self-driving car initiative. When it began in 2009, autonomous vehicles seemed like science fiction. Over a decade later, Waymo has logged millions of miles and is pioneering commercial autonomous ride-hailing. Was this a distraction from search? By traditional measures, absolutely. By Google's transformative standard, it was perfectly aligned with their mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible—extending into the physical world of transportation.
Jeff Bezos and The Everything Store
Google isn't alone in successfully challenging the focus dogma. Amazon's evolution from online bookstore to "The Everything Store" to cloud computing giant follows a similar pattern.
In his 2010 letter to shareholders, Jeff Bezos wrote:
"I'm emphasizing the size and scale of the opportunity because I want to make clear that the Kindle is not a device for us—it's a service... We knew we needed a service where customers could get any book ever printed in any language in less than 60 seconds."
This service mindset—rather than a product focus—enabled Amazon to expand from books to almost every retail category, then to cloud computing with AWS, and beyond to entertainment, smart home devices, and healthcare.
Like Google, Amazon built fundamental capabilities that could scale across domains:
Unmatched logistics infrastructure
Customer-centric data and recommendations
Subscription-based relationship (Prime)
Cloud computing expertise
Bezos understood that Amazon's true competition wasn't other bookstores—it was the future itself.
Elon Musk's First Principles Expansion
Elon Musk provides another example of successful multi-domain expansion. While many entrepreneurs focus on one company, Musk simultaneously leads Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company.
His approach isn't random diversification but strategic expansion based on first principles thinking. In an interview, Musk explained:
"I think it's important to reason from first principles rather than by analogy... Physics teaches you to reason from first principles rather than by analogy. So I said, okay, let's look at the first principles. What is a rocket made of? Aerospace-grade aluminum alloys, plus some titanium, copper, and carbon fiber... The raw materials cost of a rocket is about 2% of the typical price."
This thinking allowed SpaceX to reimagine rocket manufacturing and dramatically reduce costs. The same approach informed Tesla's battery technology and manufacturing processes.
Musk's companies appear diverse but share foundational technologies and visions:
Battery and power systems (Tesla cars, Tesla Energy)
Advanced manufacturing techniques (Tesla, SpaceX)
AI and computer vision (Tesla Autopilot, SpaceX docking systems)
His success demonstrates that multi-domain expansion can work when built on transferable technical foundations and a coherent long-term vision.
When Traditional Focus Remains Essential
Does this mean the conventional wisdom about focus is wrong? Not at all—it simply means it's incomplete.
For most startups, especially those with limited resources, laser focus remains essential. The ability to excel in one area before expanding still offers the clearest path to initial success. As Warren Buffett wisely observed:
"The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything."
Traditional focus works best when:
You're just starting out and building initial traction
Your resources (funding, talent, time) are severely constrained
Your market niche has significant untapped potential
Your competitive advantage depends on specialized expertise
PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel emphasizes this in his book "Zero to One":
"A startup has to be focused on just one thing—the best in the world at a specific problem for a specific audience."
The key is recognizing when to evolve beyond this initial focus.
The Staged Approach to Strategic Expansion
Rather than viewing focus as static, consider it an evolving strategy that changes as your company matures. The most successful companies follow a progression:
Stage 1: Concentrated Focus
Perfect one core offering
Build a strong foundation of technology and talent
Establish market presence and credibility
Generate sustainable revenue or secure significant funding
Stage 2: Connected Expansion
Identify adjacent opportunities that leverage existing strengths
Build products that enhance or complement your core offering
Expand to related customer segments or problems
Develop capabilities that transfer across multiple domains
Stage 3: Platform-Based Innovation (Google's Approach)
Create infrastructure that enables rapid development across categories
Pursue transformative opportunities even in unrelated markets
Build interconnected ecosystems rather than isolated products
Balance moonshot initiatives with stable revenue generators
Google succeeded because they mastered Stage 1 before attempting Stages 2 and 3. They didn't begin with "do everything"—they earned the right to expand by creating the world's best search engine first.
Building Your "Do Everything" Foundation
How can entrepreneurs apply Google's approach without overextending? Consider these principles:
1. Identify Your Scalable Superpowers
What unique capabilities does your company possess that could apply across multiple domains? Before expanding, identify your transferable strengths:
Technological capabilities (AI, data processing, manufacturing expertise)
Customer relationships and distribution channels
Brand perception and trust
Operational systems and processes
Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder, recognized that their strength wasn't in DVD rentals but in recommendation algorithms and digital content delivery. This insight enabled Netflix's transition from DVD-by-mail to streaming to original content production—a transformation that would have failed without their algorithmic foundation.
2. Build for Future Expansion
Even when focusing narrowly, design your infrastructure with future expansion in mind:
Create modular systems that can adapt to new use cases
Invest in scalable technologies that grow with your ambitions
Hire versatile talent capable of tackling diverse challenges
Document institutional knowledge to enable knowledge transfer
Shopify began by focusing solely on helping small businesses sell online. However, they built their e-commerce platform with the flexibility to eventually support everything from social commerce to fulfillment to financial services. This foresight enabled their expansion from a simple website builder to a comprehensive commerce ecosystem.
3. Pursue Transformative Impact, Not Just Market Size
Schmidt emphasized selecting "areas of great impact and importance to the world." This focus on transformation rather than mere market opportunity provides a powerful filter for expansion decisions.
Ask yourself:
Does this solve a significant problem for users?
Could it fundamentally change how people work/live/interact?
Does it align with our long-term vision and values?
Are we uniquely positioned to deliver this transformation?
4. Create Virtuous Cycles Between Initiatives
The most successful "do everything" companies ensure their various offerings strengthen each other rather than competing for resources.
Consider how Google's products interact:
Search data improves advertising targeting
Gmail provides user data that enhances Google's overall AI
Chrome delivers insights into web usage patterns
Android extends Google's reach into mobile interactions
Maps enriches search with location context
Each product makes the others stronger, creating an ecosystem more valuable than the sum of its parts.
Final Thoughts: Rethinking Focus in Business
Eric Schmidt’s words challenge one of the most deeply held beliefs in entrepreneurship:
"Focus is important, but it's misinterpreted."
Google succeeded not by focusing on one thing but by focusing on solving big problems across multiple domains.
For most startups, laser focus is still the best strategy early on. But once a company builds a strong foundation, rigid focus can actually become a limitation.
The lesson? Know when to focus—and know when to expand.
As technology evolves, the next Google-like companies will be the ones that dare to think big, challenge conventional wisdom, and build not just a great product—but a portfolio of transformative innovations.
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