It only seems fitting that Michael Jackson, the man who brought the world “Thriller,” was resurrected on a Las Vegas stage late Thursday night—in the form of a hologram.

After Google’s I/O announcements, I flashed back to a dozen or so conversations I've had with executives and entrepreneurs about what Google is doing. Reading between the lines, some imagined buying yachts after a Google acquisition. Others feared downgrading to an inner tube if Google entered their space.  The best way to think about what Google might do is to understand why it does things. Here’s my deconstruction of the strategy that makes one of the world's most innovative companies tick.

Money doesn't grow on trees. Money doesn't fall from the sky. Money doesn't come in a pot at the end of the rainbow. But for people like David Gonzalez, money comes in unexpected places…and in unexpected forms. Within the walls of an abandoned house he had recently purchased and was in the process of remodeling, Gonzalez found an issue of Action Comics #1. The cost of the Elbow Lake, Minnesota, house: $10,100. The value of the comic book: Over $100,000 According to the Star Tribune, Gonzalez said, “I knew it was worth money. But I had no idea how much.”...