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The Google Story

Inside the Hottest Business, Media, and Technology Success of Our Time

By Mark Malseed, David Vise

(58)

| Paperback | 9780553383669

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Book Description

Amazon.com
Social phenomena happen, and the historians follow. So it goes with Google, the latest star shooting through the universe of trend-setting businesses. This company has even entered our popular lexicon: as many note, "Google" has moved beyond noun to verb, becoming an action whicContinue

Amazon.com
Social phenomena happen, and the historians follow. So it goes with Google, the latest star shooting through the universe of trend-setting businesses. This company has even entered our popular lexicon: as many note, "Google" has moved beyond noun to verb, becoming an action which most tech-savvy citizens at the turn of the twenty-first century recognize and in fact do, on a daily basis. It's this wide societal impact that fascinated authors David Vise and Mark Malseed, who came to the book with well-established reputations in investigative reporting. Vise authored the bestselling The Bureau and the Mole, and Malseed contributed significantly to two Bob Woodward books, Bush at War and Plan of Attack. The kind of voluminous research and behind-the-scenes insight in which both writers specialize, and on which their earlier books rested, comes through in The Google Story.
The strength of the book comes from its command of many small details, and its focus on the human side of the Google story, as opposed to the merely academic one. Some may prefer a dryer, more analytic approach to Google's impact on the Internet, like The Search or books that tilt more heavily towards bits and bytes on the spectrum between technology and business, like The Singularity is Near. Those wanting to understand the motivations and personal growth of founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and CEO Eric Schmidt, however, will enjoy this book. Vise and Malseed interviewed over 150 people, including numerous Google employees, Wall Street analysts, Stanford professors, venture capitalists, even Larry Page's Cub Scout leader, and their comprehensiveness shows.

As the narrative unfolds, readers learn how Google grew out of the intellectually fertile and not particularly directed friendship between Page and Brin; how the founders attempted to peddle early versions of their search technology to different Silicon Valley firms for $1 million; how Larry and Sergey celebrated their first investor's check with breakfast at Burger King; how the pair initially housed their company in a Palo Alto office, then eventually moved to a futuristic campus dubbed the "Googleplex"; how the company found its financial footing through keyword-targeted Web ads; how various products like Google News, Froogle, and others were cooked up by an inventive staff; how Brin and Page proved their mettle as tough businessmen through negotiations with AOL Europe and their controversial IPO process, among other instances; and how the company's vision for itself continues to grow, such as geographic expansion to China and cooperation with Craig Venter on the Human Genome Project.

Like the company it profiles, The Google Story is a bit of a wild ride, and fun, too. Its first appendix lists 23 "tips" which readers can use to get more utility out of Google. The second contains the intelligence test which Google Research offers to prospective job applicants, and shows the sometimes zany methods of this most unusual business. Through it all, Vise and Malseed synthesize a variety of fascinating anecdotes and speculation about Google, and readers seeking a first draft of the history of the company will enjoy an easy read. --Peter Han --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Critics

  • The Global Id

    Google is the only multi-billion-dollar company in the world that is also a spelling mistake. Back in the palaeolithic era (that’s the palaeolithic era in the internet sense, i.e. autumn 1997) its co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, were graduat ... (read full critics)

    lrb published on Sat, 4 Sep 2010

3 Reviews

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  • 3 people find this helpful

    Unlike "A Perfect Store", this book has failed to inspire me or give new insights about entrepreneurship and the struggle to succeed. The author just seems to be a person who is in love with Google, and this is his book to gush about it.

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    Simon Tofu said on Nov 28, 2007 | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    it's useful to see how google became the monster company it is, and in the end you could attribute it to the singular focus of its two founders. at the same time lots of news articles have written about such and i did not find this book particularly insightful.

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    Michaelkchan said on May 11, 2008 | Add your feedback

  • *** This comment contains spoilers! ***

    Before reading The Google Story, I thought entrepreneurship is still far away from me. To me, build up my own brand and share with all over the world is such a wonderful thing. I can’t even image about that. Larry and Sergey, they are dream chasers. I love their enthusiastic motions and the powers o ... (continue)

    Before reading The Google Story, I thought entrepreneurship is still far away from me. To me, build up my own brand and share with all over the world is such a wonderful thing. I can’t even image about that. Larry and Sergey, they are dream chasers. I love their enthusiastic motions and the powers of executive. All the way from beginning to now, they faced a lot of obstacles and enjoyed bunch of achievements of success. From 2003, they took seven years to change the world and the world is still getting better because of them.

    Larry and Sergey

    They are from Stanford University and having a healthy disregard for the impossible. To them, nothing is impossible. They have dreams in their minds. There are always a lot of blueprints to finish. Optimistic mind is their secret weapon. Every time something troublesome happen to them. They can easily figure it out and make it better. They have ideas but the most important part is they are willing to executive them and make the dreams come true. No matter how many obstacles in front of them to discourage them, they don’t even stop and think about that. They know they need to taste failure first and then embrace success. Hence, they are not afraid of failure. Failure is a capstone of success to them. Falling down is a chance for them to grow up and being strong. To Larry and Sergey, everyone is unique and have ability to change the world. They have dreams and know how to change the world with secret weapons in their mind.

    The Story

    As they are still studying in Stanford University, they found that the current search engines are very poor. Being thinking if they can do something to solve the issue and offer users a free and efficient search engine. By using the knowledge learned from school and some computers, they started up their own business in garage. They know they need to do something different and unique to the world. Searching data is not the major way to get information on that moment. Hence, it’s pretty hard to them to rise funding from Angel venture investors. Based on social net from Stanford University and recommendations from professors, they finally found two major Angel venture investors to help them keep running their business. Also, the obstacles to find a funding made them have to stop keeping chasing their degree in Stanford University and focusing on Google. The firm motivation makes them have courage to chase their dreams without the degrees from Stanford University.

    In 2003, Google changed the world a lot. Google map made people don’t even need to worry about searching direction. Translate function makes the global village can easily be connected. Everyone in the global village starts to Google everything. In 2004, Gmail surprised everyone with gigantic capacity for free. 1 GB is 250 times to yahoo’s mail in 2004. During the time, their mail related content advertisement makes them troublesome a lot. People felt that the privacy issue is serious. They don’t want Google scan their mails to find the keywords for related advertisement. However, Google is too amazing and wonderful to be worried about the privacy issue. Gradually the issue is not a problem anymore.

    Teamwork

    Teamwork and leadership are other elements to make them success. Larry and Sergey brings their employees to Burning man festival in desert. In desert, they can’t use money to buy anything and they won’t leave anything after they leave. There they learned how to teamwork with others. They formed an unique Google culture and teamwork together.

    You can make it.

    The culture, leadership and motivation made Google be so successful. Running a new business is just like doing ice skating. If you are afraid to fall down, you will do. As you have courage to keep moving forward and face the challenge on the ice, then you will make it.

    Is this helpful?

    Wayjay said on Mar 16, 2010 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

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