Post-acquisition, Google employees made a number of smart moves with good execution, including a viable comp model for the creators and music rights deals. Several moves I consider bad as well, but the good moves outweigh them.

Looking back, I’m still pretty amazed they got so much of it right. Which is to say, a good chunk of the value wasn’t in the value of YouTube itself but in what Google brought to the table _or_ a synergy between the two.