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"Google is a technology-driven company -- one founded by computer science prodigies who have hired more than 50 computer science Ph.D.'s." In 2002 this was wei

by drb311 11y ago

"Google is a technology-driven company -- one founded by computer science prodigies who have hired more than 50 computer science Ph.D.'s." In 2002 this was weird. Internet entrepreneurs were not expected to be compsci Ph.Ds back then. AVC discussed a new kind of tech CEO recently: "The new tech CEO archetype is a computer scientist who got into product management early in their career, led large product teams at a big important tech company, is in their 40s, and has great taste in technology, tech talent, and most of all tech products." Google was one of the first internet businesses to succeed big with computer scientists at the top, leading product. EDIT, again: Google is quite a different beast from Sun, SGI, or Viacom. You might disagree but that's OK. Somebody is always wrong on the Internet. 2002 was shortly after the dotcom bubble. Nobody knew what was going on or going to happen. The rise of computer scientist lead consumer-facing tech companies would have surprised people who had expected Pets.com to rule the world. As the NYT article noted, Google was swimming against the tide at the time. History has proved them right.

melling 11y ago
SGI was pretty big. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Graphics,_Inc https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Graphics,_Inc.
- coldtea 11y ago
  Or this SUN company.
- drb311 11y ago
  You're right. I should have said "first internet businesses", and now I have. I could still be totally wrong, but at least now it's genuine ignorance not a typing mistake.
  - melling 11y ago
    pg made his money in an Internet business: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viaweb https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viaweb I see you've cranked out a blog entry with your beliefs: https://medium.com/@drb/the-computer-science-driven-start-up-5fa67ed820ee https://medium.com/@drb/the-computer-science-driven-start-up...
  - diego 11y ago
    Google was really part of the second wave of successful internet businesses, including search. Yahoo was going public as Google was getting started. Inktomi was worth over 20B at some point, in fact I was there when the company had an opportunity to acquire Google and said no.
- knowaveragejoe 11y ago
  Correct link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Graphics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Graphics
hkmurakami 11y ago
>Google was one of the first internet businesses to succeed big with computer scientists at the top, leading product. Sun Microsystems? edit: ah "Internet" business.
- troels 11y ago
  "edit: ah "Internet" business." Well - SUN was the dot in dot com, remember?
onion2k 11y ago
I'm not sure Google was that unusual... Of the 6 founders of Excite, 5 were Stanford computer science graduates. Jerry Yang and David Filo, founders of Yahoo, were electrical engineering graduates (thus very tech oriented). Alta Vista was started by some electrical engineers and computer scientists from DEC. Inktomi was started by Eric Brewer who was an electrical engineering and computer science professor. I'm sure there are more. EDIT: As the NYT article noted, Google was swimming against the tide at the time. History has proved them right. It should be mentioned that Sergey and Larry recruited Eric Schmidt as CEO in 2001. Eric is a hugely capable computer scientist, but he also had a proven record as CEO at Novell. In essence they brought in a 'business guy' who they trusted with the technical aspects of Google.
- drb311 11y ago
  That does blow a hole in my argument... but what lead NYT to observe that Google was 'flouting dotcom tradition', if stocking up with (and being lead by) CS PhD's was the norm?
  - cscurmudgeon 11y ago
    NYT writing about normal things does not help NYT sell more papers. This applies to any newspaper. Most articles are overhyped.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - GauntletWizard 11y ago
    Many tech companies were lead by non-tech guys, but most were so flash-in-the-pan you don't even remember them. My father consulted for several would-be tech companies during that time, all led by business types, that didn't last.
- outworlder 11y ago
  Also Hewlett-Packard, named after the founders, two Stanford graduates.
wslh 11y ago
Intel, founded in 1968, has founders with PhDs. They were not PhDs in computer science (formally) but on related fields.
- mateo411 11y ago
  There weren't very many PhD programs for Computer Science in 1968. A quick Google search reveals the first US Computer Science Phd was awarded in 1965. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kenneth_Keller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kenneth_Keller
narrator 11y ago
Interestingly enough, Jeff Bezos of Amazon has a computer science degree from Princeton. He's such a fierce competitor and tough negotiator that somehow his geek credentials were completely overlooked by the business press.

by drb311 11y ago

melling 11y ago

SGI was pretty big. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Graphics,_Inc https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Graphics,_Inc.

coldtea 11y ago
Or this SUN company.
drb311 11y ago
You're right. I should have said "first internet businesses", and now I have. I could still be totally wrong, but at least now it's genuine ignorance not a typing mistake.
- melling 11y ago
  pg made his money in an Internet business: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viaweb https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viaweb I see you've cranked out a blog entry with your beliefs: https://medium.com/@drb/the-computer-science-driven-start-up-5fa67ed820ee https://medium.com/@drb/the-computer-science-driven-start-up...
- diego 11y ago
  Google was really part of the second wave of successful internet businesses, including search. Yahoo was going public as Google was getting started. Inktomi was worth over 20B at some point, in fact I was there when the company had an opportunity to acquire Google and said no.
knowaveragejoe 11y ago
Correct link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Graphics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Graphics

hkmurakami 11y ago

>Google was one of the first internet businesses to succeed big with computer scientists at the top, leading product. Sun Microsystems? edit: ah "Internet" business.

troels 11y ago
"edit: ah "Internet" business." Well - SUN was the dot in dot com, remember?

onion2k 11y ago

I'm not sure Google was that unusual... Of the 6 founders of Excite, 5 were Stanford computer science graduates. Jerry Yang and David Filo, founders of Yahoo, were electrical engineering graduates (thus very tech oriented). Alta Vista was started by some electrical engineers and computer scientists from DEC. Inktomi was started by Eric Brewer who was an electrical engineering and computer science professor. I'm sure there are more. EDIT: As the NYT article noted, Google was swimming against the tide at the time. History has proved them right. It should be mentioned that Sergey and Larry recruited Eric Schmidt as CEO in 2001. Eric is a hugely capable computer scientist, but he also had a proven record as CEO at Novell. In essence they brought in a 'business guy' who they trusted with the technical aspects of Google.

drb311 11y ago
That does blow a hole in my argument... but what lead NYT to observe that Google was 'flouting dotcom tradition', if stocking up with (and being lead by) CS PhD's was the norm?
- cscurmudgeon 11y ago
  NYT writing about normal things does not help NYT sell more papers. This applies to any newspaper. Most articles are overhyped.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- GauntletWizard 11y ago
  Many tech companies were lead by non-tech guys, but most were so flash-in-the-pan you don't even remember them. My father consulted for several would-be tech companies during that time, all led by business types, that didn't last.
outworlder 11y ago
Also Hewlett-Packard, named after the founders, two Stanford graduates.

wslh 11y ago

Intel, founded in 1968, has founders with PhDs. They were not PhDs in computer science (formally) but on related fields.

mateo411 11y ago
There weren't very many PhD programs for Computer Science in 1968. A quick Google search reveals the first US Computer Science Phd was awarded in 1965. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kenneth_Keller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kenneth_Keller

narrator 11y ago

Interestingly enough, Jeff Bezos of Amazon has a computer science degree from Princeton. He's such a fierce competitor and tough negotiator that somehow his geek credentials were completely overlooked by the business press.