[paulsutter]

I agree, but I'd ascribe that to Google being run by technical founders rather than MBAs. The main benefit of technical company leadership is the ability to "see" across and coordinate the disparate areas.

Infighting and begrudging compromises only happen when the leadership is blind to the details.

[InclinedPlane]

Having technical founders is a necessary but not sufficient condition, I think. Lots of companies have had technical founders who haven't managed a level of success as impressive (regardless of scale) as google.