Weighing a Google Push to Rival Slack in Workplace Messaging

Decide whether Google should go after Slack's market with a competing product, and defend your recommendation. ```hint Take stock before you decide Before judging the idea, write down what Google would want from this move and what it already has to work with in workplace communication. The options you compare follow from those two lists. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Should I treat this as a brand-new standalone product, or is Google's existing chat inside its workplace suite in scope as a starting point? - Which customers matter most: large enterprises, small and mid-sized businesses, or startups and technical teams? - Is the goal revenue from the chat product itself, or growth and retention of Google's paid productivity suite? - Are building, buying and partnering all on the table? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A clear goal for Google and how a move into team messaging would serve it - The competitive landscape, where Slack and other rivals are strong or weak, and Google's own assets and gaps in this market - Alternative paths compared, such as building, investing in what already exists, acquiring, partnering or staying out - A recommendation with a target segment, a reason customers would switch, and the metrics that would show it working - Risks and the cost of doing nothing, including risks specific to Google ### Follow-up Questions - Slack's app ecosystem and its channels shared between companies are hard to copy. How would your plan win developers and cross-company use? - A year in, usage is strong among existing suite customers, but almost nobody has switched away from Slack. Is that success or failure? - How should bundling, and regulators' scrutiny of it, shape the way Google packages and prices the product?