Synopses & Reviews
Comparing Google to an ordinary business is like comparing a rocket to an Edsel. No academic analysis nor bystanders account can capture it. Not until Doug Edwards, Employee Number 58, the first to offer an inside view of Google, have readers fully experienced the bizarre mix of camaraderie and competition of this phenomenal company. Edwards, Googles first Director of Marketing and Brand Management, describes it as it happened. We see the first, pioneering steps of Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the companys young, idiosyncratic partners; the evolution of the companys famously non-hierarchical structure (where every employee finds a problem to tackle or a feature to create and works independently); the development of brand identity; the races to develop/implement each new feature; and the many ideas that never came to pass. Above all, Edwardsa former journalist who knows how to writecaptures the "Google Experience," the roller-coaster ride of being part of a company creating itself in a whole new universe.Everyone made millions, yet they were more deeply committed to the "Googleplex" than to their bank accounts.
The Googleplex loves anything extremeendless days, sushi, non-stop debate, and bloodthirsty hockey matches. These first-generation, high-tech explorers want more than old notions of success; they want to open all the information in the world to everyonein a nanosecond. Yet what began as social consciousness became a kind of guerilla warfare with those whose conventions they obliterated. Google, like the Big Bang, is a singularitythe only way to understand it is to experience it as Edwards did.
Review
"[A]
highly entertaining new memoir...
Im Feeling Lucky is at its best, and most hilarious, in its account of the companys earliest days."
-Bloomberg News "Edwards does an excellent job of telling his story with a fun, outsider-insider voice. The writing is sharp and takes full advantage of the fact that Edwards was in a unique position to gauge Googles strengths and weaknesses, coming as he did from an "old-media background...Part of what makes the book so rewarding is Edwardss endlessly nuanced take on his former company and its employees"
-Boston Globe "Affectionate, compulsively readable. . . . This lively, thoughtful business memoir is more entertaining than it really has any right to be, and should be required reading for startup aficionados."
—Publishers Weekly "Although there have been many journalistic examinations of the worlds most valuable Internet brand, this is the first to capture the process and the feeling of what it was like to be there in the early days."
-Booklist "[Edwards's] perspective as an early employee is valuable and unique...the former 'voice of Google' provides a detailed, quirky and expansive half-memoir/half-historical record."
-Kirkus Reviews
"Im Feeling Lucky is funny, revealing, and instructive, with an insiders perspective I hadnt seen anywhere before. I thought I had followed the Google story closely, but I realized how much Id missed after reading—and enjoying—this book."
—James Fallows, author of Postcards from Tomorrow Square "Douglas Edwards is indeed lucky, sort of an accidental millionaire, a reluctant bystander in a sea of computer geniuses who changed the world. This is a rare look at what happened inside the building of the most important company of our time."
—Seth Godin, author of Linchpin "This is the first Google book told from the inside out. The teller is an ex-employee who joined Google early and who treats readers to vivid inside stories of what life was like before Google became a verb. Douglas Edwards recounts Google's stumble and rise with verve and humor and a generosity of spirit. He kept me turning the pages of this engrossing tale."
—Ken Auletta, author of Googled: The End of the World as We Know It
Review
Im Feeling Lucky is funny, revealing, and instructive, with an insiders perspective I hadnt seen anywhere before. I thought I had followed the Google story closely, but I realized how much Id missed after reading—and enjoying—this book." —James Fallows, author of Postcards from Tomorrow Square "Douglas Edwards is indeed lucky, sort of an accidental millionaire, a reluctant bystander in a sea of computer geniuses who changed the world. This is a rare look at what happened inside the building of the most important company of our time."—Seth Godin, author of Linchpin "This is the first Google book told from the inside out. The teller is an ex-employee who joined Google early and who treats readers to vivid inside stories of what life was like before Google became a verb. Douglas Edwards recounts Google's stumble and rise with verve and humor and a generosity of spirit. He kept me turning the pages of this engrossing tale." —Ken Auletta, author of Googled: The End of the World as We Know It
Synopsis
Comparing Google to an ordinary business is like comparing a rocket to an Edsel. No academic analysis or bystanders account can capture it. Now Doug Edwards, Employee Number 59, offers the first inside view of Google, giving readers a chance to fully experience the bizarre mix of camaraderie and competition at this phenomenal company. Edwards, Googles first director of marketing and brand management, describes it as it happened. We see the first, pioneering steps of Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the companys young, idiosyncratic partners; the evolution of the companys famously nonhierarchical structure (where every employee finds a problem to tackle or a feature to create and works independently); the development of brand identity; the races to develop and implement each new feature; and the many ideas that never came to pass. Above all, Edwards—a former journalist who knows how to write—captures the “Google Experience,” the rollercoaster ride of being part of a company creating itself in a whole new universe.
Im Feeling Lucky captures for the first time the unique, self-invented, yet profoundly important culture of the worlds most transformative corporation.
Synopsis
One of Google’s first employees takes us on a trip inside the hyperenergized company that broke the rules and rocked the world.
Synopsis
The first inside view of life at Google in a memoir from one of its original employees--Employee #59-- captures the emotions and tensions as the company's young partners race to break rules, defy conventional wisdom, and rocket their company to the top.
Synopsis
“An exciting story [that] shines light on the inner workings of the fledgling Google and on the personalities of its founders.”—
The Daily BeastIn its infancy, Google embraced extremes—endless days fueled by unlimited free food, nonstop data-based debates, and blood-letting hockey games. The companys fresh-from-grad-school leaders sought more than old notions of success; they wanted to make all the information in the world available to everyone—instantly. Google, like the Big Bang, was a singularity—an explosive release of raw intelligence and unequaled creative energy—and while others have described what Google accomplished, no one has explained how it felt to be a part of it. Until now.
As employee number 59, Douglas Edwards was a key part of Googles earliest days. Experience the unnerving mix of camaraderie and competition as Larry Page and Sergey Brin create a famously nonhierarchical structure, fight against conventional wisdom, and race to implement myriad new features while coolly burying broken ideas. Im Feeling Lucky captures the self-created culture of the worlds most transformative corporation and offers unique access to the emotions experienced by those who virtually overnight built one of the worlds best-known brands.
“Edwards does an excellent job of telling his story with a fun, outsider-insider voice. The writing is sharp.”—Boston Globe
“An affectionate, compulsively readable recounting of the early years of Google.”—Publishers Weekly
Video
About the Author
DOUG EDWARDS was the director of consumer marketing and brand management at Google from 1999 to 2005 and was responsible for setting the tone and direction of the companys communications with its users. Prior to joining Google, Edwards was the online brand group manager for the San Jose Mercury News, where he conceived and led development of the technology news site siliconvalley.com.
Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction ix
PART I: YOU ARE ONE OF US
1. From Whence I Came 3
2. In the Beginning 15
3. A World without Form 31
4. Marketing without “Marketing” 42
5. Giving Process Its Due 51
6. Real Integrity and Thoughts about God 60
7. A Healthy Appetite for Insecurity 76
8. Cheap Bastards Who Can’t Take a Joke 93
9. Wang Dang Doodle — Good
Enough Is Good Enough 121
10. Rugged Individualists with a Taste for Porn 136
PART II: GOOGLE GROWS AND FINDS ITS VOICE
11. Lift off 155
12. Fun and Names 183
13. Not the Usual Yada Yada 193
14. Googlebombs and Mail Fail 200
15. Managers in Hot Tubs and in Hot Water 214
16. Is New York Alive? 228
PART III: WHERE WE STAND
17. Two Speakers, One Voice 245
18. Mail Enhancement and Speaking in Tongues 255
19. The Sell of a New Machine 265
20. Where We Stand 286
21. Aloha AOL 295
22. We Need Another Billion-Dollar Idea 312
23. Froogle and Friction 326
24. Don’t Let Marketing Drive 335
25. Mistakes Were Made 356
PART IV: CAN THIS REALLY BE THE END?
26. S-1 for the Money 377
Timeline of Google Events 391
Glossary 394
Acknowledgments 399
Index 402