The Google Story - David A.Wise

Reviewer’s Note:

I was recently speaking with my neighbor’s 5year old daughter. I asked her, “I want to see a video, where should I find it?” She replies, “First, check YouTube, and if you don’t find anything over there, then check on Google”. That’s the impact Google and all its products have on us. Everyone from the youngest generation to the oldest one knows about them, and that is a commendable feat to achieve.

Like a lot of people, my initial interest in Google emerged when I watched the movie “The Internship”. The way Google is portrayed in the movie and the way it actually is, is surprising the same. There literally is no difference. When I came to know this, I was shocked as I am used to seeing companies being over-pitched in movies. However, seeing Google’s actual representation was fascinating. This got me interested in the story of how Google was started, and what their culture is like, that’s when I decided to pick this book up. This book is one of the best reads I have had in recent times, and I hope even you take the time out and read this one.

Book Review/ Summary:

Larry Page and Sergey Brin were on paths to becoming academians when they first met as Ph.D. students at Stanford. Coming from families with academic backgrounds, they both had their eyes set on an academic career as well. Little did they know, their friendship and their ideas were going to revolutionize and change the world forever.

The book starts in the backdrop of Sergey and Larry meeting in Stanford and how they connected and how their friendship began. Eventually, it comes down to how Larry had this crazy idea of downloading the whole internet on his computer with Sergey assisting him in the task. While doing so, they realize that indexing the web is a problem no one is looking to solve, and they decide to fix it. And that’s how Google is born.

Once the company was formed, the hustle to raise funds for Google began with big names in the market rejecting them. However, later people realized how big of a gem Google is, and they start investing in it. The following chapters see the constant struggle start-ups face, with the founders not looking to make money yet and the boards and VCs forcing them to do so. Even Google faced this struggle, and it was this struggle that led to them appointing their first CEO.

These chapters are followed by the lawsuits that Google faced, the competition from Microsoft, and how the culture of Google was built. It even includes details about how Google’s IPO took place, the existence of Gmail, the side projects that employees started, which turned into scaled products, and about Google’s Chef. Yes, you read it right. There is an entire section about Google’s Chef and how free food in tech companies came around.

Overall, I feel its a wonderful read. It has covered every minute detail about Google, its projects, and its plan for the future. It has a lot of fun facts like the value Google decided to raise for the IPO and what the name Google stands for, which demonstrates how much Google and its team loves academic concepts. So do check it out.

Happy Reading.