Part 4/11:
Around the early 2010s, however, the landscape shifted dramatically. Silicon Valley's focus turned to efficiency, usability, and monetization. Google shut down Google Labs—its playground for experimental features—in 2011. Companies began hiring managers, MBAs, and operations experts instead of engineers passionate about building. This was the beginning of the "operator" era, where A/B testing, metrics, and usability testing dictated every design decision.