Monday, March 28, 2011
AOL Tries for Some Silicon Valley Cred
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_14/b4222043205512.htm This article talks about the building that AOL purchases and how they hope it will as they say: "AOL hopes its Palo Alto office will generate entrepreneurial energy, create better products, and give it an edge on acquisitions. " The new digs are part corporate office, part startup incubator, and part college community center. The hope for AOL executives is that some of that entrepreneurial energy rubs off on their 28-year-old company. An interesting part of the article was this statement: "While the mother ship has been shedding employees—AOL recently laid off more than 900—Garlinghouse is looking to fill 80 tech positions in Palo Alto, New York, and Virginia. "AOL wasn't building great products, and the brand was reflecting that," he says. "We have to expunge the ghosts of AOL and start fresh." " It shows in this market you have to step out of the box and createn ew ideas to succeed.
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It certainly is a brave and bold move on AOL's part. Trying to reinvent or reinvigorate a company the size of AOL is not an easy task and this is a novel step in the process. It sounds like the culture change that they hope to nurture here still needs to reach the rest of AOL but it has to start somewhere. No rent, perks, hopes of future endeavors...I hope for AOL's sake that the transition to substantive change is mapped out.
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