The Google Story

- By David Vise

Google is a miracle to me. It became an integral part of almost every walk of life, that it is difficult to imagine a day without it. “The Google Story” is about, Google. (No surprises there!). It is about the meteoric rise of two young students who dared to dream and cared enough to achieve that dream. Just as every dream begins with no foundation apart from self belief, their dream of providing easy access to the web became a reality through their belief in it. Luck favours the brave and it is proven again, by the inspiring story of this software miracle.

Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the two founders of Google established this company in a hope to provide a quality service to the internet users and their quest to build a superior quality search engine and their page ranking system did what seemed to be trivial for other software giants to care about, to provide what the internet users want accurately and at a right pace. Right from the start, Google had its goal clear, to provide a quality service to its users and true to its goal, it continues to do so. I am a faithful Google user, with or without their lock in, I use Google every single day. With their bold and aggressive steps, the two pioneers took the search phenomenon to new heights and shook the monopoly of Microsoft and challenged Yahoo to make Google a world wide business.

What began as a statement, “I want to download the entire web”, went on to become a reality as the idea took shape and the search engine took birth. The book is written as a detective story, engrossing the reader into understanding the Google and its culture. David Vise had done a fantastic job in bringing the Google to the readers and it forms an interesting journey. It is an inspiration to every one who cares to dream, however unrealistic and far fetched it may be, as long as one believes in them.

Creating a college atmosphere and giving perks that are unchallenged by any industry out there, Google made quite a few loyal employees. However aggressive the targets are, if the loyalty of employees is guaranteed, the targets will be met. By providing an atmosphere that is closer to college, with unique design to the place and a touch of youth to the interiors and encouraging gadgets that the employees like, providing them the chance to explore their personal interest every day and evoking a creative thought process, the company earned a loyal set of followers and it is no surprise that almost every software engineer who value their thought want to work for Google. Right from the computers the employees use to the food that they are provided in their cafeteria to the other free benefits that they get, the place is practically a second home to most of the Google employees. Falling in love with a company is something that no one should do, but I dare say, Google employees might differ to it.

The book details the journey of Google, from a mere search engine to a world wide business and how it challenged every software company on its way, before making itself public and how the two pioneers personally sought out to expand the Google and continue to do so and are millionaires by thirty. The quest and the challenges that were thrown in the way were met with arrogance, sheer brilliance and unequalled audacity. The mistakes were few, yet the lessons learnt were valuable and the public offering not only made the employees rich, but also increased the funds that can be channelled for the future projects that come out of the Googleplex, the creative giant of the industry. Be it the chef who provided multi cuisine to the employees or the different style of Google founders in rewarding the employees for their hard work, the company set on a journey that is unique and different and engrossing not only to the people involved in it, but also to the people who aspire high.

The book provides an insight into the company and leaves an impression of voyaging through a journey that is inspiring.