Google Was Not A Typical Startup

Back in the Fall of 1998, I was going through the growing pains of working for a company that had just been acquired by a public company in the northeast (Thank you, Mr. Lindner).  Out on the west coast, two self proclaimed “tech geeks” from Google were launching a search engine.  Now back then, I remember using different search pages like Yahoo, Altavista, and even Ask Jeeves (who remembers that one?), but 21 years later if you haven’t “googled it”, you will not find it.  

Anyhow while other companies were focusing on the content on the web, Google focused on how users were going to locate the content and be able to use it effectively. Companies can have terabytes and terabytes of data, but if they don’t have an efficient and timely way to access that data, there is no reason to have it.  Google chose to seek an alternative path than try to compete in the search page war.  Like I mentioned in my post earlier this month, the Blue Ocean Strategy is very effective, and Google is yet another successful example.

I came across this article in the New York Times today on Google turning 21 years old today.  Here are some fascinating facts that show Google is not your typical startup:

• 1999 – Google moves into their office with 16 employees.
  
• 2000 – Google becomes the world’s largest search engine.
  
• 2004 – Google has a successful IPO.
  

Now who wishes they would have bought original shares of BackRub aka Google.