Pack the parking lot

Re-read one of my favorite stories on company culture this weekend. Why? Twitter was down… and maybe down for the count.

When Google Plus launched in June 2011, Facebook declared a state of "lockdown," framing the competition as a zero-sum game.

That weekend, Facebook HQ was packed, and the Googleplex was a ghost town.

Facebook was not fucking around. This was total war.

I decided to do some reconnaissance. En route to work one Sunday morning, I skipped the Palo Alto exit on the 101 and got off in Mountain View instead. Down Shoreline I went and into the sprawling Google campus. The multicolored Google logo was everywhere, and clunky Google-colored bikes littered the courtyards. I had visited friends here before and knew where to find the engineering buildings. I made my way there and contemplated the parking lot.

It was empty. Completely empty.

Interesting.

I got back on the 101 North and drove to Facebook.

At the California Avenue building, I had to hunt for a parking spot. The lot was full.

It was clear which company was fighting to the death.

Carthage must be destroyed!

I’m not always the biggest fan of Zuckerberg, and I think the most bizarre occurrence in recent memory is Elon making Zuck seem to be the more likable of the two, but this is company culture in action.

I hope Zuck and the team at Meta are spending this weekend working to launch Instagram’s long-rumored Twitter competitor by the time I have my coffee tomorrow.


☕️ Written at Switchyards, drinking Italian Soccer Internet Café coffee.

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