While many investors have knocked Microsoft for not moving as quickly as Google, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer suggested that his chief rival may be trying to grow too fast.
Microsoft took nearly three decades to grow to 75,000 people, while Google has become a very large company in a fraction of that time.
"They are trying to double in a year," Ballmer told a crowd of Stanford Graduate School of Business students on Thursday. "That's insane in my opinion."
But, he added, "it doesn't mean they won't do it well".
There are advantages to the deliberate management structure that Microsoft has put in place, he said, adding that he isn't sure anyone has proven "that a random collection of people doing their own thing" has created value. Among Google's perks, the company is widely known for letting its engineers devote 20 percent of their work time to pet projects.
As in the past, he characterised Google as a one-trick pony, playing down the company's efforts beyond search.
"They do a lot of cute things," Ballmer said, to huge laughs from the business students.
"We do a lot of cute things too," he said. "We have a robotics effort."
Although not in the audience for Ballmer's chat, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt happened to be not far away, eating lunch at the business school cafeteria as Ballmer's chat began. Schmidt teaches a class at Stanford's business school.
At Stanford and schools throughout the country, Google and Microsoft have emerged as each other's fiercest rivals for talent. Ballmer, who attended one year of the two-year Stanford Business School programme, makes fairly regular stops here, having delivered a similar "View from the Top" chat in 2005.
Ballmer said there are basically four stages in business: coming up with an idea, getting it to critical mass, milking it financially and then finding a new idea.
"Google is in the part of the cycle where they are milking," Ballmer said, acknowledging that's a fun stage. "That was the 1990s for us... or I would say the 1980s and 1990s."
Talkback
Sounds like Microsoft are running scared of Google. Calling them a one trick pony is rather rich as on that score Microsoft has only one more (if you count profitability). I guess the major difference between the two is a very large chunk of Microsoft customers use their software 'because its there' whereas Google users choose their search service because its the best.
I think Google and MS both are reaping the benefits of their earlier invention. obviously for Google ---> search and for MS ---> Windows
And since then they have become follower rather that pioneer and gone into blame game and snatching each other market, and in fact people.
I am afraid they may choked themselves to this wrangle and somebody will come from behind and they away all credit.
www.360view4u.co.uk
At least Google help is free like English is or Standard Software should be, and Google offers me a service which does not cost me money - but the richest company on Earth is never for free, no, maybe only to get and hold a Monopoly - where Microsoft's Growth strategy costs me very little but does cost all of you lots and lots of money and time by promising us more then delivering what we expect should not cost again and again (DOS as Win95/Win98/XP/Vista, all the same limitations redressed as new) - which has been wrong for a long time already - as we do not have to replace and upgrade all the time new purchased goods which runs well including computers all other tools and toys we purchase. When I buy a car, I do not have to change the engine or the gas each year or every few years, as well as keep spending money on fixing what was not perfect from start, and yes, we can expect perfection from computers, because it is the limitations of theirs engineers and designers plus corporate managers like Big Steve himself, not seeing what they are doing wrong, or how to get our trust in Microsoft real good will for us all...
This post has been removed by a moderator.