President Clinton had remarked, "My country has been enriched by the contributions of more than a million Indian Americans.”
Microsoft is immensely indebted to the contributions from Indians.
People even go this far as to say the US economy would collapse if all the NRIs quit the US.
...Still, India never rolled out anything like the Windows, the Yahoo or the Google…
This saga of dramatic rise of Google in the international corridors of corporate power has invigorated my desire to dream the impossible and chase my goals against all odds. Certainly one of the most motivating tales of our times, The Google Story, in my opinion, is a must read for anybody dreaming of venturing into something of his own, sometime in his life.
Larry Page with a net worth of 12.8 billion dollars at an age of 33 and Sergey Mihailovich Brin with a net worth of 12.9 billion dollars at a mere age of 32 rank 27 and 26, respectively, on the Forbes 2006 list of world’s 400 richest people. If you look closely at the list you would find that these two are also the youngest ever people to achieve this position.
While reading this book, I tried to figure out what led Larry Page and Sergey Brin to this dramatic rise to the forefront of technology business. I concluded that it was more related to their desire to make a positive contribution to the society than make the money. I also tried to compare their life with the life we live at the top technical institutes of our country to find out what really is stopping us Indians from contributing to the society in the same big way.
1. To a certain extent the foundation of Larry and Sergey’s future was laid by their cultural and societal predispositions and the kind of atmosphere that they were brought up in.
2. Being the sons of distinguished professors of their times and with their gifted intellectual abilities, they had that intellectually stimulating environment at home.
3. And the exposure to computers at home in the early 80s was a luxury, again, predisposing them to a future different from that of their counterparts.
4. But the first important step in their success was their recognition of an opportunity, of making something that mattered as a contribution to the society, out of a very small problem they were facing in their studies at the Stanford and the realization that a Ph.D. would not matter more than an opportunity to make serious contribution to the lives of people of the world.
I think that’s where we Indians lack mainly. Students at even the top technical institutes of our country lack the desire, motivation, support and courage to take the helm in their hands. Just as at Stanford, the learning and academic environment at any technical institute of higher learning, in our country too, provides enough opportunities to its students to recognize the gaps, the niche and the area where they can work independently and purposefully, make a difference in the quality of life surrounding them and make their learning purposeful. But most of the times, the historical and cultural predispositions, that have shaped us to seek the appreciation of our master by our work, come in the way and even the most competent of us are content with just securing a respected job by the norms of society and getting the appreciation from our employers by working overtime and on public holidays too. In contrast, the origin and the history of Americans, that has shaped them to break the shackles of dependency and outshine their masters by being a trailblazer in everything they do, inspires them to follow their interests and make their learning purposeful. This was very well epitomized by the Google guys when they decided that a Ph.D. on paper could not be more meaningful than making something out of their research that would bring the vast pool of knowledge at one’s fingertips at a single click of the mouse and hence transform the way people do things. I wonder how many research papers from our country’s top technical institutes could have transformed our society in the similar way had they been backed by men of similar will and passion for their work.
5. Then the kind of support that Stanford and other institutes in the US have always extended to their students, in terms of monetary assistance for research and patents, has nurtured the innovation out of academics. Google and Yahoo both, for example, are the products of the research at Stanford. This kind of support is lacking at even the government funded top technical institutes of India.
I faced this problem several times while starting any ambitious project at my institute where we were asked to either invest our own money (which we didn’t have) before the department could sanction us the funds or we were simply refused the assistance because of the huge cost involved or the low chances of success. There was a time when we could not work on an artificial intelligence project because of the unavailability of the kind of cameras and sensors to us that the students at the MIT were using. The Stanford repeatedly bore the $100000 expense each time the Google search engine crawled the web when it was in its initial phase. The absence of this kind of encouragement and support has played a major role in burying many innovations at our top technical institutes.
The cited reasons for this indifference are many. The need of money for social issues in a developing country like India takes priority over the huge risky investment in innovations at the institutes of higher learning. Whereas the social issues of a developing country ARE important, the backseat that innovation is taking due to this negligence is having serious implications on the economic development of India.
6. The next factor in the amazing success of Google has to do with the strong work ethics of the Google guys.
7. The Google guys have never sold their search results to any advertiser. This honesty has won them the trust of billions of internet users across the globe.
8. The Google guys had such tremendous faith in their innovation that they never advertised their own products. Still they created the best known brand of the internet.
9. The kind of work culture they have created at Google has won them some of the brightest scientists of the world and the innovation continues at Google.
Throughout my reading of the book, I thought, researched and analyzed…I thought how I have failed in my struggle against the predispositions of my background so far. I tried to think how I could gain from the success story of Google. And I reached a conclusion.
Whatever happened...happened. The college years are gone. I lost some of my productive years due to some predispositions I could do nothing about, despite my efforts, may be because I was too young to fight against these. But what’s stopping me now !
I have ideas.
I can still see the gaps.
I can still find my niche.
I have few of the brightest brains of the country for friends to make partners with.
I have parents who support me in my efforts.
I am mature.
I can work something out and expect some venture capital if I am really onto something that matters.
Nothing has changed even after 2 years of graduation except that I am even more mature and more practical now.
By the night I finished reading ‘The Google Story’, I made up my mind. I am going to shape my destiny myself. I am going to take the helm in my hands. I am going to change the way people do things. I am going to make a difference. Luck factor is with the God...
The only thing to work out is….HOW I AM GONNA DO THIS !
Microsoft is immensely indebted to the contributions from Indians.
People even go this far as to say the US economy would collapse if all the NRIs quit the US.
...Still, India never rolled out anything like the Windows, the Yahoo or the Google…
This saga of dramatic rise of Google in the international corridors of corporate power has invigorated my desire to dream the impossible and chase my goals against all odds. Certainly one of the most motivating tales of our times, The Google Story, in my opinion, is a must read for anybody dreaming of venturing into something of his own, sometime in his life.
Larry Page with a net worth of 12.8 billion dollars at an age of 33 and Sergey Mihailovich Brin with a net worth of 12.9 billion dollars at a mere age of 32 rank 27 and 26, respectively, on the Forbes 2006 list of world’s 400 richest people. If you look closely at the list you would find that these two are also the youngest ever people to achieve this position.
While reading this book, I tried to figure out what led Larry Page and Sergey Brin to this dramatic rise to the forefront of technology business. I concluded that it was more related to their desire to make a positive contribution to the society than make the money. I also tried to compare their life with the life we live at the top technical institutes of our country to find out what really is stopping us Indians from contributing to the society in the same big way.
1. To a certain extent the foundation of Larry and Sergey’s future was laid by their cultural and societal predispositions and the kind of atmosphere that they were brought up in.
2. Being the sons of distinguished professors of their times and with their gifted intellectual abilities, they had that intellectually stimulating environment at home.
3. And the exposure to computers at home in the early 80s was a luxury, again, predisposing them to a future different from that of their counterparts.
4. But the first important step in their success was their recognition of an opportunity, of making something that mattered as a contribution to the society, out of a very small problem they were facing in their studies at the Stanford and the realization that a Ph.D. would not matter more than an opportunity to make serious contribution to the lives of people of the world.
I think that’s where we Indians lack mainly. Students at even the top technical institutes of our country lack the desire, motivation, support and courage to take the helm in their hands. Just as at Stanford, the learning and academic environment at any technical institute of higher learning, in our country too, provides enough opportunities to its students to recognize the gaps, the niche and the area where they can work independently and purposefully, make a difference in the quality of life surrounding them and make their learning purposeful. But most of the times, the historical and cultural predispositions, that have shaped us to seek the appreciation of our master by our work, come in the way and even the most competent of us are content with just securing a respected job by the norms of society and getting the appreciation from our employers by working overtime and on public holidays too. In contrast, the origin and the history of Americans, that has shaped them to break the shackles of dependency and outshine their masters by being a trailblazer in everything they do, inspires them to follow their interests and make their learning purposeful. This was very well epitomized by the Google guys when they decided that a Ph.D. on paper could not be more meaningful than making something out of their research that would bring the vast pool of knowledge at one’s fingertips at a single click of the mouse and hence transform the way people do things. I wonder how many research papers from our country’s top technical institutes could have transformed our society in the similar way had they been backed by men of similar will and passion for their work.
5. Then the kind of support that Stanford and other institutes in the US have always extended to their students, in terms of monetary assistance for research and patents, has nurtured the innovation out of academics. Google and Yahoo both, for example, are the products of the research at Stanford. This kind of support is lacking at even the government funded top technical institutes of India.
I faced this problem several times while starting any ambitious project at my institute where we were asked to either invest our own money (which we didn’t have) before the department could sanction us the funds or we were simply refused the assistance because of the huge cost involved or the low chances of success. There was a time when we could not work on an artificial intelligence project because of the unavailability of the kind of cameras and sensors to us that the students at the MIT were using. The Stanford repeatedly bore the $100000 expense each time the Google search engine crawled the web when it was in its initial phase. The absence of this kind of encouragement and support has played a major role in burying many innovations at our top technical institutes.
The cited reasons for this indifference are many. The need of money for social issues in a developing country like India takes priority over the huge risky investment in innovations at the institutes of higher learning. Whereas the social issues of a developing country ARE important, the backseat that innovation is taking due to this negligence is having serious implications on the economic development of India.
6. The next factor in the amazing success of Google has to do with the strong work ethics of the Google guys.
7. The Google guys have never sold their search results to any advertiser. This honesty has won them the trust of billions of internet users across the globe.
8. The Google guys had such tremendous faith in their innovation that they never advertised their own products. Still they created the best known brand of the internet.
9. The kind of work culture they have created at Google has won them some of the brightest scientists of the world and the innovation continues at Google.
Throughout my reading of the book, I thought, researched and analyzed…I thought how I have failed in my struggle against the predispositions of my background so far. I tried to think how I could gain from the success story of Google. And I reached a conclusion.
Whatever happened...happened. The college years are gone. I lost some of my productive years due to some predispositions I could do nothing about, despite my efforts, may be because I was too young to fight against these. But what’s stopping me now !
I have ideas.
I can still see the gaps.
I can still find my niche.
I have few of the brightest brains of the country for friends to make partners with.
I have parents who support me in my efforts.
I am mature.
I can work something out and expect some venture capital if I am really onto something that matters.
Nothing has changed even after 2 years of graduation except that I am even more mature and more practical now.
By the night I finished reading ‘The Google Story’, I made up my mind. I am going to shape my destiny myself. I am going to take the helm in my hands. I am going to change the way people do things. I am going to make a difference. Luck factor is with the God...
The only thing to work out is….HOW I AM GONNA DO THIS !
2 comments:
Looks like an attempt to instigate the readers has been made. Appreciate the valuable time and energy the author has devoted.
Well, as a reader it is hard to connect to the 'contribution to the society' part. Google is indeed a boon to any inetrnet user. What seems obnoxiously disgusting is to brand it to be something meant for the benefit of the society. It is arguably one of the best of all time innovations, probably second only to the invention of the wheel. But Alas, Need is the mother of invention. When the growing number of internet user were groping hard with the number of growing sites/pages, two bright young engineers from the Stanford sensed the opportunity and cut loose to roll out something as exciting as google. What goes without saying is that their brainchild shaped into reality only with the support of their Alma Mater.
Indian edu institutes are grappling hard with funds. But so is the government. The monetary support is 'asking for more' thing here. But innovations shape into reality when the desire is strong. Students from the Delhi College of Engineering have been involved in improvising upon their prototype of the racing car year after year. The high cost involved isnt paid from the university coffers. It was made very clear to the students way back in the year 1999 when they approached the Director with what they had in mind. But since they had FAITH, they approached many auto-makers after a gruelling month of hard work and toil. Efforts paid off when they found loyal support from industry big-wigs. When the will is strong, the way is found.
Having 'Predispositions' may appear to be the distinguishing factor. But carrying a mature head on your shoulders and a judgemental thinking prompting the right from the wrong should help you come out the initial hesitation phase to chase the dreams and convert them into reality. Easier said than done, one may argue, but it indeed is said easily. Hard work should follow.
Would like to rephrase Francis Bacon" Writing makes and exact man...if only the contents are weighed"
For all those who havent had a chance to read The Google Story...guys, its a must read!
Wishing the author all the very best!
what is that sodiumhydrophospate??..i am asking just out of curiosity...
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