I told you how I was reading I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59
by Douglas Edwards. Well I finished.Now, I've read books about Google before years ago. While I learned something about the company, at the same time I wanted to gag because the kiss up factor was up to a googol if you know what I mean.
Edwards' book however gives us a more realistic view of the company I have a feeling. After all, he was there in the early years, watched it grow and then was let go. That gives him credibility in my book. I think we are looking at a more accurate picture in this one (I have not read Steven Levy's In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives
so it could be more honest too for all I know). In I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59
Edwards shows us how fast the company grew, details on the product launch of Gmail and Google news, internal struggles (his was with Marissa Mayer) as well as more details about all of the perks employees get. Plus, Edwards somehow wrote a book about a company from a marketing perspective and gave it the intensity of a thriller. I'm serious, I was on the edge of my seat during his accounts of Google product launches.Here are some things off the top of my head that I learned about the search engine giant from the book:
- The founders hate marketing
- The founders ran the place on the cheap (that's how it survived the crash)
- Code names of Google products
- Where the mantra "Don't be evil" really came from
I had to laugh at the 50 cent words Edwards through in. I know that Google is known as an intelligent company, so I guess he was trying to keep that sensibility going.
In full disclosure, a rep for the publisher sent me a copy of this book to review.
Check out Doug’s blog: http://xooglers.blogspot.com/
Check out some exclusive video from inside the Googleplex: http://www.youtube.com/user/Xooglers
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