Google founder Larry Page has long argued that companies should aim for breakthroughs rather than small improvements, a view he described as “10x” philosophy. During a 2013 TED interview, Page was asked to explain the philosophy that he lives by.“You don’t want to go into a small, measurable arena of progress,” the interview said. Larry Page then replied saying “I see this as an economic concept of additionality, which means they are doing something that wouldn’t happen unless you’re actually doing it.” “I think the more you can do things like that, the bigger impact you have,” he explained, further adding “that’s about doing things people might not think are possible.” 

During the interview, Page said he believes businesses should aim to build products that are ten times better than what already exists. He explained that small efficiency gains or code tweaks rarely lead to large outcomes. According to Page, real impact comes from rethinking problems from the ground up and exploring what technology can make possible.

“The more you learn about technology, the more you learn what’s possible,” he continued, saying “I just try to focus on – what is that future really gonna be? And how do we create it?” During the interview, Larry Page further explained what additionality really mean for him. 

“Looking at things people might not think about working on things that no one else is working on…. that’s where the additionality really is.”

Shaping Google’s product strategy

Larry Page’s 10x approach influenced several major Google products. In his previous interviews, he has cited examples such as Gmail launching with far more storage than competing email services, Google Translate expanding across many languages, and efforts to digitise books at a global scale.

The philosophy, as per reports, also led to the creation of Google X, a research division set up to work on long-term projects such as self-driving cars and advanced artificial intelligence systems. Larry Page said these projects were designed to explore ideas that would otherwise remain untested.