The man at Google who called Dodge after he was laid off by Microsoft was , who had also left Microsoft to join Google. Dodge today reports to Michael Winton, Google's director of developer relations, and occasionally runs in higher circles. For example, Dodge is doing a special project for in which he's bringing venture capitalists to Google's campus to develop a relationship with the people "that fund the companies we want to partner with, or that we want to acquire or invest in," Dodge says.

At DEMO, Dodge said he was intrigued by startups called and . Dodge was impressed by how Nimble brings social technology to customer relationship management, while FaceCake's Swivel product uses a "virtual mirror" letting shoppers view themselves in clothes without actually taking anything off or putting anything on.

The fashion application "is kind of funky, probably not anything Google is interested in," Dodge says. But the technology behind the application could be used by Google for other applications. "The technology itself was pretty remarkable."

Dodge was also impressed by NeuAer, which was at the Launch conference. The startup "uses Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for proximity location identification," Dodge says. "It's a platform for connecting all kinds of devices, phones, cars and appliances and letting you know when they're in proximity to you."

Great technology alone isn't enough to catch Google's eye, though, especially when it considers making an acquisition. A billion-dollar merger could be mostly about acquiring technology, or moving into new markets by appropriating an existing customer base. But the sub-$100 million acquisitions are usually about acquiring talent.