San Francisco Seminar 2008
Day 2
Innovation @ Google
Introduction and context
The day at Google was a highlight, but also stood out from the other visits: instead of providing insight into culture, organizational structure, or research processes, Google presented its product portfolio and innovation model.
Thomas Korte began with Google's vision – to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful – and showed how the company built innovation on structured experimentation rather than random ideas.
Although the visit was more of a demonstration than a dialogue, it highlighted how Google had already become a global ecosystem by 2008. This was the year the Android platform was launched, and search, email, maps, photos, and video began to merge into one unified user experience.
Program overview
Date: April 1, 2008 Place: Google Inc., Mountain View
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Welcome and introduction by Thomas Korte
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Presentation: Innovation @ Google
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Product and service review (Google Search, AdWords, AdSense, Blogger, Picasa, Maps, etc.)
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Discussion about innovation model and the "70–20–10 rule"
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Google Campus Tour
Main academic topics
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Vision as a driving force: Clear purpose from day one – "organize the world's information."
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The 70–20–10 rule: 70% on core business, 20% on new initiatives, 10% on experimental projects.
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20% projects: Employees were given the freedom to develop their own ideas (Gmail, News, and Maps were mentioned as examples).
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Recruitment and culture: High demands for creativity and analytical skills were seen as a core value.
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Platform thinking: Connecting search, advertising, and content services created network effects that reinforced each other.
Case studies
Google did not present any external cases that day, but shared internally how ideas from 20% projects had become commercial successes. A notable example was Gmail, which started as an internal project and later defined a new standard for web-based email and storage.
Reflections and discussion:
The day provided a basis for reflection on what characterizes innovative organizations:
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How can freedom and structure be balanced?
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How do you avoid experiments being devoid of business impact?
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Can the 70–20–10 model be transferred to other industries or the public sector?
Many of the participants took with them the idea that innovation must be anchored in culture and management – not just in processes and budgets.
International perspectives
At the time, Google's model represented an American approach to innovation: high tolerance for mistakes, strong access to capital, and a focus on growth before wages and dividends. For Norwegian and European companies, the contrast became clear – here, there was more emphasis on stability and predictability than on experimentation.
What do we take home with us?
A clear picture of how structured innovation can be organized in a technology-driven environment.
An understanding of how vision, culture and recruitment are as important as technology.
Inspiration to consider how the "20% time" can be translated to other organizational forms.
Relevance today
The model Google's product evangelists presented in 2008 has stood the test of time.
Several of today's companies – from Spotify to Finn.no – have adopted a similar mindset where small experimental teams test, learn, and scale.
In the public sector, we also see parallels today in the work with agile development and innovation labs.
Peder Inge Furseth
Peder Inge Furseth was a central academic driving force behind the San Francisco seminars and helped make the meeting with Silicon Valley relevant for Norwegian and European businesses. Through his role as professor at BI and as academic director of the program, he helped the participants put the lectures into a larger context – where technology, innovation, business development and people had to be seen in context.
In San Francisco, participants met entrepreneurs, researchers, technology leaders and investors from some of the world's most innovative environments. Furseth's strength was his ability to connect these experiences to practical challenges and opportunities in Norwegian businesses. He helped translate Silicon Valley's ideas and working methods into a Nordic context where collaboration, trust and long-term value creation are strong.
Throughout the entire seminar series, he was an important bridge builder between research, business and technology. For many participants, he therefore became more than a professional leader – he also became a mentor who inspired new thinking about innovation, digitalization and commercialization.
Read more about Peder Inge Furseth here
From studies and seminars to today's professional universe
The studies, seminars and field trips documented on this page are part of the knowledge base behind The Invisible Capital. Topics such as customers, technology, innovation, digitalization and value creation have followed developments over several decades – but the disciplines have also continued to develop.
At The Invisible Capital, we are therefore continuing to work on these questions in our own subject series. Here, we connect previous theory, research and experiences with newer knowledge, new technologies and today's challenges for people and businesses.
Innovation
Innovation is not just about new ideas. Value is created when knowledge, technology and ideas are developed into products, services, processes, organizational forms and business models that are actually used. The series on innovation goes from Schumpeter to modern innovation research and covers, among other things, incremental, radical, disruptive, open and user-driven innovation.
→ Explore the Innovation Series
The customer
The customer is not just the recipient of what the business produces. In a competitive market, the customer is a crucial determinant of whether the business actually succeeds in creating value. The series about the customer goes deeper into customer orientation, customer insight, customer experience, satisfaction, loyalty, trust and the encounter between people.
→ Read the customer series
Value creation
What does it really mean to create value – and who creates it? The series on value creation moves from economic theory and key researchers to a broader understanding of how people, expertise, institutions, businesses and the public sector contribute to value creation.
→ Read the series on value creation
Digitization
Digitalization has evolved from stand-alone technologies to a fundamental part of how businesses work and create value. The Digitalization from A–Z series follows developments through internet, web, e-commerce, search, UX, social, mobile, omnichannel, cloud, data, platforms and digital transformation – up to today’s AI First developments.
→ Read the series Digitization from A–Z
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence represents the next chapter in digital evolution. In our own AI universe, we investigate how artificial intelligence works, how AI finds and uses information, how it evaluates sources and websites, and what the development can mean for people, businesses, and value creation.
→ Go to the articles about artificial intelligence
Recommended literature
In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives
Steven Levy provides a unique insight into how Google evolved from a search engine to a global innovation platform. The book describes how experimentation, data-driven development, and a strong technology culture made Google one of the world's most influential companies in search, Android, maps, video, and digital services.
