5 ms·

A Conversation with Sergey Brin

47 points by bastian 17y ago

kakooljay 17y ago
This is hilarious: Schmidt: let me, some of your assumptions about Chrome adoption are wrong. The adoption rate of Chrome is [very strong]. We are going to do a better job of getting that message out. Schonfeld: Steve Ballmer calls it a rounding error, is it? I don’t respond to Steve Ballmer questions. Next question?
- arithmetic 17y ago
  You'd think they'd act like grown-ups before the press, given media's tendency to blow things out of proportion. But nope, not Schmidt.
  - tsally 17y ago
    You'd think they'd act like grown-ups before the press, given media's tendency to blow things out of proportion. But nope, not Schmidt. The person acting like a child is not who you think it is.
yan 17y ago
"Sergey: There is also the security aspect. In a recent hacker competition, Chrome was the only one to escape unscathed in terms of security vulnerabilities. And more stable." When, oh when will people learn that touting the security of a product by how well it did in hacking competitions is not a measure of how secure it is?
- txxxxd 17y ago
  There is no single measure of security. The hacking competition mentioned is a perfectly valid data point though.
- kvs 17y ago
  Nothing wrong with comparing against a single benchmark, regardless of how good/bad the benchmark itself is. On the other hand, how would you have gone about measuring the security of browsers in a meaningful way?
edw519 17y ago
In front of the press: Eric Schmidt: It seems like Sergey has jumped the gun. We should focus mostly on search, and some of the ideas Sergey has. I could only imagine what goes on behind closed doors.
arithmetic 17y ago
Is it just me or does the entire interview seem very strained and uncomfortable? Schmidt seems to violently differ from Sergey and they both go compeltely mum when asked about their competitors.
- msg 17y ago
  To me it seemed like they avoided the celebrity cat fighting those questions about competitors would devolve into, "Jobs gets served by Brin and Schmidt" idiocy.
dkokelley 17y ago
Why I think Google is and will remain strong and innovative: "One day Larry and Sergey bought what became Android, and I didn't even know about this. They said this is really interesting. I didn’t think about that, but now think about the strategic opportunities that created" The fact that Larry and Sergey can still pursue what they consider 'interesting' with their resources WITHOUT giant bureaucracy getting in the way speaks volumes about the health of the company IMO.
- aston 17y ago
  I mean, they should be able to dodge bureaucracy; they run the company. I'm missing what's so amazing here.
  - davi 17y ago
    They do not own the company; they run it at the pleasure of (yes) a bureaucracy.
    - tsally 17y ago
      I'm pretty sure one of the most notable things about Google is Larry and Sergey's ability to avoid this, going back all the way to when they raised VC. They split the funds between rival firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital and kept control of the company for themselves.
  - dkokelley 17y ago
    Well, it's the fact that they can act independently, verses having to seek the board's approval that makes this an interesting case.
- brandonkm 17y ago
  I don't think that particular move highlights the health of the company as much as it underscores the ability of the founders to pursue their strategies independently of the board of directors. I don't think that upper management would have protested an acquisition (in 2005) that would have moved the company into the mobile space. Android is certainly interesting, but I doubt Larry and Sergey buy companies without a clear plan of how that acquisition will (eventually) grow the bottom line.
zaphar 17y ago
Is it just me or does his bold formatting detract from rather than add to the interview? I found it hard to follow with the constant switch back and forth from bold to regular text.
- tb 17y ago
  I quickly switched from reading to skim-reading to trying to find a pattern in the boldness to giving up. I might've read it all if it used one font face consistently.

47 points by bastian 17y ago

This is hilarious: Schmidt: let me, some of your assumptions about Chrome adoption are wrong. The adoption rate of Chrome is [very strong]. We are going to do a better job of getting that message out. Schonfeld: Steve Ballmer calls it a rounding error, is it? I don’t respond to Steve Ballmer questions. Next question?

arithmetic 17y ago
You'd think they'd act like grown-ups before the press, given media's tendency to blow things out of proportion. But nope, not Schmidt.
- tsally 17y ago
  You'd think they'd act like grown-ups before the press, given media's tendency to blow things out of proportion. But nope, not Schmidt. The person acting like a child is not who you think it is.

yan 17y ago

"Sergey: There is also the security aspect. In a recent hacker competition, Chrome was the only one to escape unscathed in terms of security vulnerabilities. And more stable." When, oh when will people learn that touting the security of a product by how well it did in hacking competitions is not a measure of how secure it is?

txxxxd 17y ago
There is no single measure of security. The hacking competition mentioned is a perfectly valid data point though.
kvs 17y ago
Nothing wrong with comparing against a single benchmark, regardless of how good/bad the benchmark itself is. On the other hand, how would you have gone about measuring the security of browsers in a meaningful way?

edw519 17y ago

In front of the press: Eric Schmidt: It seems like Sergey has jumped the gun. We should focus mostly on search, and some of the ideas Sergey has. I could only imagine what goes on behind closed doors.

arithmetic 17y ago

Is it just me or does the entire interview seem very strained and uncomfortable? Schmidt seems to violently differ from Sergey and they both go compeltely mum when asked about their competitors.

msg 17y ago
To me it seemed like they avoided the celebrity cat fighting those questions about competitors would devolve into, "Jobs gets served by Brin and Schmidt" idiocy.

dkokelley 17y ago

Why I think Google is and will remain strong and innovative: "One day Larry and Sergey bought what became Android, and I didn't even know about this. They said this is really interesting. I didn’t think about that, but now think about the strategic opportunities that created" The fact that Larry and Sergey can still pursue what they consider 'interesting' with their resources WITHOUT giant bureaucracy getting in the way speaks volumes about the health of the company IMO.

aston 17y ago
I mean, they should be able to dodge bureaucracy; they run the company. I'm missing what's so amazing here.
- davi 17y ago
  They do not own the company; they run it at the pleasure of (yes) a bureaucracy.
  - tsally 17y ago
    I'm pretty sure one of the most notable things about Google is Larry and Sergey's ability to avoid this, going back all the way to when they raised VC. They split the funds between rival firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital and kept control of the company for themselves.
- dkokelley 17y ago
  Well, it's the fact that they can act independently, verses having to seek the board's approval that makes this an interesting case.
brandonkm 17y ago
I don't think that particular move highlights the health of the company as much as it underscores the ability of the founders to pursue their strategies independently of the board of directors. I don't think that upper management would have protested an acquisition (in 2005) that would have moved the company into the mobile space. Android is certainly interesting, but I doubt Larry and Sergey buy companies without a clear plan of how that acquisition will (eventually) grow the bottom line.

zaphar 17y ago

Is it just me or does his bold formatting detract from rather than add to the interview? I found it hard to follow with the constant switch back and forth from bold to regular text.

tb 17y ago
I quickly switched from reading to skim-reading to trying to find a pattern in the boldness to giving up. I might've read it all if it used one font face consistently.