- Google's VP of hunt acquisition and the cofounder of Google Lens has proposal for pitching absorption connected ideas.
- Rajan Patel told BI you should cognize what problems the satellite — and your manager — request solving.
- He besides suggests seeking feedback from radical your manager trusts and backing up your thought with data.
As VP of hunt acquisition astatine Google and the cofounder of immoderate of its astir fashionable products, Rajan Patel knows a happening oregon 2 astir pitching ideas to the higher-ups.
Patel was 1 of the creators of Google Lens, a instrumentality launched successful 2017 that's go a fashionable mode for radical to find answers to what they're looking astatine by snapping a photograph of it. It present has 25 cardinal hunt queries each period and conscionable underwent its latest update called "AI Mode" successful Google Labs, allowing users to get AI responses with links to their photograph searches.
Patel besides led the improvement of different large tools, including Google Podcasts and Google Flu Trends. Now, helium leads the engineering teams successful Google Search, including Discover, Image Search, Lens, and Autocomplete.
But earlier those products could spot the airy of day, determination was the task of pitching them. And portion not everyone is pitching tech products, getting ideas successful beforehand of absorption is simply a task galore of america person to bash astatine immoderate constituent successful our careers, if not regularly.
In an interrogation with Business Insider, Patel shared 5 things that employees should bash erstwhile pitching management.
1. Understand the problems astir you
Patel said those who propulsion the needle connected what's imaginable wrong Google Search person a "deep transportation to solving problems." In bid to fig retired what problems the radical astir america request solved, you request to beryllium plugged successful to what's going connected astir you, helium said.
"You person to beryllium capable to sorb accusation from each around, not conscionable your company, but from what's going connected successful the industry," Patel told BI, adding that you request to "deeply understand" the types of problems your merchandise country and squad are trying to solve.
Patel said it's important to ever beryllium learning, listening, and understanding. Those observations should past beryllium incorporated into the ideas you develop.
The quality to hunt utilizing your earthy dependable portion utilizing your phone, for example, is simply a diagnostic that tons of radical would find helpful.
2. Know your manager's priorities
Once you're tapped into what the radical and industries astir you attraction about, it's worthy reasoning astir the problems that align with your manager, Patel said. When pitching an thought to them, Patel said you should marque definite your thought addresses 1 of their priorities.
"Understand what problems your manager is looking to solve. What matters astir to them," Patel said.
That means knowing whether your manager is focused connected growth, outgo reduction, innovation, oregon thing else. Patel besides suggested utilizing the connection that your manager uses erstwhile pitching the idea.
3. Do your research
Patel said you privation your thought to beryllium an casual "yes."
To bash so, you'll privation to amusement your manager that you've thought done the outgo and practicalities of what it would instrumentality to determination forward. That whitethorn see investing successful resources, deprioritizing different projects, oregon thing else. The bottommost enactment is you privation your manager to cognize you've thought done the idea, the Google VP said.
"Convince them that tradeoffs are worthwhile," Patel said.
You should besides contiguous your thought with information that backs up your idea, helium added, specified arsenic from a "small trial you ran." The information should beryllium caller accusation that your manager wasn't already alert of.
4. Get feedback from others
Patel suggested getting feedback from radical your manager trusts earlier presenting an idea. Patel said that a manager's archetypal instinct whitethorn beryllium to inquire you to get feedback from others, truthful having that done already tin assistance supply credibility.
Patel added that 1 of the benefits of creating a merchandise wrong the institution you enactment astatine is being capable to leverage the web astir you, Patel said.
"One of the chill things astir getting to enactment astatine Google is there's truthful galore superb radical present doing unthinkable things," Patel said. "It turns retired I person colleagues that person won Nobel Prizes."
Taking immoderate learnings that travel from soundboarding your thought disconnected your web and applying the feedback tin marque your transportation stronger.
5. Chase your passions
Many entrepreneurs who are passionate astir an thought spell disconnected to commencement their ain business, but Patel said helium was funny successful processing products wrong Google. In his case, helium said it made consciousness to enactment wrong the tech elephantine to transportation retired his vision.
Patel said helium doesn't urge the aforesaid way for everybody, but helium does suggest moving successful an country that you consciousness passionate about.
"You volition bash truly large enactment if you bash enactment successful an country that you're ace passionate about," Patel said, adding that "you're lone going to enactment successful the enactment if you're truly dedicated to it and if you emotion it."
Patel, who received a Ph.D successful biostatistics and neuroimaging anterior to moving astatine Google, said that proposal besides applies to what you determine to survey successful assemblage oregon grad school. He said if you enactment connected thing you're passionate about, you'll beryllium "very apt to succeed."