What Andy Rubin's Google Departure Says About Executive Retention

October 31, 2014 at 11:46 AM by Rob Stevenson

The father of Android, Andy Rubin, is leaving Google after 9 years with the tech giant. After Android was What Rubin's Departure Says About Executive Retentionacquired in 2005, Rubin spent several years overseeing the platform's development before a brief stint with Google Robotics, and now will part ways with the company to kick off his own hardware oriented incubator. 

In an appearance on Bloomberg West, Entelo's own Jon Bischke discussed the departure and what it means for Google and Rubin.

As Jon points out, Rubin is an entrepreneur at heart, and keeping a spirit like that around for almost a decade is no easy task. Rubin's movement around Google in the past year plus demonstrates that very difficulty. His move in March 2013 to head up what Larry Page refers to as "moonshots", followed by his involvement with the robotics division, suggests the folks at Google were making efforts to involve him in early stage, high impact projects such as would align with his passions. This, I think, is the key lesson about executive retention from Rubin's departure. Because Google remembered Rubin's roots and wanted him to stick around, they moved him directly to projects that would indulge his professional chops, and in doing so kept him around an extra year and a half.

What do you make of Rubin's exit? Leave a comment or tweet @EnteloRob!

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