Big Boys Need Product Leaders Too
Why the unfortunate fraternity of FAANG is blindsiding tech talent of massive opportunities
When the majority of people are asked about tech companies, they immediately think of FAANG. The truth is, that all companies across every industry now have large tech-focused divisions. Some consumer businesses have tech portfolios much larger than any Silicon Valley unicorn. Many legacy behemoths have their hands in multiple industries regardless of their initial industry reputation.
For example, Proctor and Gamble is generally categorized as a consumer goods company. In 2021, P&G pulled in an annual revenue 30x larger than the typical Silicon Valley tech unicorn. P&G and Pepsi 2021 revenues were each around $70B. Meanwhile, Slack pulled in a meager $188M, Spotify and Dropbox $2B, Salesforce $21B and Netflix $30B. This isn’t to say that any of these revenues are unimpressive. The point is, when we think of companies in need of product, design and engineering leaders, we tend to leave out the real big boys.
While talking about product management, someone once said that I’m “kind of” a product manager because I work at Hearst, a massive diversified media company. To him, Hearst isn’t a “tech” company. Even though I manage software development every day. Apparently you’re only a real product manager if you work at a “tech” company. Meanwhile, Hearst pulled in around $11B last year. Compare that with the company where said person works with revenues of $355M. Since a small tech company like that focuses on one main technical product, they enter the market as a “tech” company. Meanwhile, Hearst entered the market in 1887 as William Randolph Hearst’s newspaper publishing company. Therefore, the fraternal FAANG generation doesn’t consider it to be a tech business.
Oddly enough, the FAANG generation is quick to refer to Amazon.com as a tech company. Even though it’s a beefed up consumer goods marketplace at its core. Its target users are not massively different from P&G and Pepsi. All three companies utilize AI and ML and have enormous tech departments. In fact, striking up a partnership with P&G was a vital move for Amazon in 2014. So why is everyone trapped in fraternal groupthink, assuming companies like P&G, Pepsi, and Walmart are not “tech” companies?
In reality, the initial market entry means nothing about the size of a company’s tech portfolio. As you can imagine, a company with P&G or Hearst’s annual revenue has many tech focused ventures and even internal VC funds. Yet, I would bet you $100 that if you asked someone from FAANG if they know about Hearst, they would say no. The chances of them knowing about P&G are maybe slightly higher, but I’d still take up that bet.
Any recent grad eager to work in product will tell you that their goal is to get an offer from FAANG. It’s almost like believing that attending Stanford or Berkeley is the only way to succeed, while forgetting that Harvard is impressive too. They rarely ever think about working for legacy behemoths like the ones I’ve mentioned. Working at a FAANG company is thought to be a badge of honor of sorts. The “tech” world has become a weird fraternity.
It doesn’t take a Stanford BS in mathematics to understand that companies with larger revenues have larger business opportunities and market shares. Yet, the tech world tends to ignore this simple logic. Companies like P&G, Pepsi, and even Hearst, are all extremely diversified. Something many “tech” companies are not.
What does that mean exactly? It means that P&G entered the consumer goods market and garnered a massive population of customers. They pocketed their gold and utilized it to enter hundreds of other markets. P&G has acquired hundreds of other companies in all different markets. For example, they acquired Swiss Precision Diagnostics, positioning them in the health tech market. They acquired Fameccanica Data, positioning them in the big data market. The list goes on and on. To the everyday consumer, P&G is disguised as a simple consumer goods business selling Oral B toothpaste and cleaning supplies.
Investing wizards always recommend diversifying your investment portfolio as much as possible. And for good reason. Diversified portfolios are better plays. It really shouldn’t be any different when considering companies as a potential employee. Companies with diversified portfolios, massive revenue streams, and thousands of employees with expertise in all different skills are opportunity gold mines. Tech is not limited to FAANG nor is it limited to one specific technical product offering. A SAAS company with no other offering is simply just a SAAS company. Meanwhile, companies like P&G have a hand in every pie.
FAANG fraternity is blinding tech talent to the opportunities that lay behind the closed doors of these real big boys. The saddest part is that legacy behemoths often need product talent the most. They need real innovative forward thinkers to help cut through bureaucratic red tape. They have the big bucks, big portfolios and big opportunities. Yet, defying all logic, they struggle far behind FAANG in hiring the best tech talent. When thinking of your next career move, ask yourself, do I want to be another fish among thousands scavenging for left over food flakes in a small pond? Or do I want to be a fish in a big pond with abundant flakes waiting to be consumed?
