I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59 - Paperback

by Douglas Edwards (Author)

"An exciting story [that] shines light on the inner workings of the fledgling Google and on the personalities of its founders."--The Daily Beast

In its infancy, Google embraced extremes--endless days fueled by unlimited free food, nonstop data-based debates, and blood-letting hockey games. The company's fresh-from-grad-school leaders sought more than old notions of success; they wanted to make all the information in the world available to everyone--instantly. Google, like the Big Bang, was a singularity--an explosive release of raw intelligence and unequaled creative energy--and while others have described what Google accomplished, no one has explained how it felt to be a part of it. Until now.

As employee number 59, Douglas Edwards was a key part of Google's earliest days. Experience the unnerving mix of camaraderie and competition as Larry Page and Sergey Brin create a famously nonhierarchical structure, fight against conventional wisdom, and race to implement myriad new features while coolly burying broken ideas. I'm Feeling Lucky captures the self-created culture of the world's most transformative corporation and offers unique access to the emotions experienced by those who virtually overnight built one of the world's best-known brands.

"Edwards does an excellent job of telling his story with a fun, outsider-insider voice. The writing is sharp."--Boston Globe

"An affectionate, compulsively readable recounting of the early years of Google."--Publishers Weekly

Front Jacket

One of Google s Early Employees Takes Us on a Trip Inside the Hyperenergized Company That Broke the Rules and Rocked the World.

Comparing Google to an ordinary business is like comparing a rocket to an Edsel. In its infancy, Google embraced extremes endless days fueled by unlimited free food, nonstop data-based debates, and blood-letting hockey games. The company s fresh-from-grad-school leaders sought more than old notions of success; they wanted to make all the information in the world available to everyone instantly. Google, like the Big Bang, was a singularity an explosive release of raw intelligence and unequaled creative energy and while others have described what Google accomplished, no one has explained how it felt to be a part of it. Until now.
Douglas Edwards, employee number 59, offers the first inside view of what it was like to be a Googler. Experience the unnerving mix of camaraderie and competition as Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the company s idiosyncratic young partners, create a famously nonhierarchical structure, fight against conventional wisdom, and race to implement a myriad of new features while coolly burying broken ideas and wounded products. I m Feeling Lucky captures for the first time the self-invented culture of the world s most transformative corporation and offers unique access to the emotions, particularly the tensions, experienced by those who built overnight one of the world s best-known brands.
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Back Jacket

An exciting story [that] shines light on the inner workings of the fledgling Google and on the personalities of its founders. The Daily Beast
In its infancy, Google embraced extremes endless days fueled by unlimited free food, nonstop data-based debates, and blood-letting hockey games. The company s fresh-from-grad-school leaders sought more than old notions of success; they wanted to make all the information in the world available to everyone instantly. Google, like the Big Bang, was a singularity an explosive release of raw intelligence and unequaled creative energy and while others have described what Google accomplished, no one has explained how it felt to be a part of it. Until now.
As employee number 59, Douglas Edwards was a key part of Google s earliest days. Experience the unnerving mix of camaraderie and competition as Larry Page and Sergey Brin create a famously nonhierarchical structure, fight against conventional wisdom, and race to implement myriad new features while coolly burying broken ideas. I m Feeling Lucky captures the self-created culture of the world s most transformative corporation and offers unique access to the emotions experienced by those who virtually overnight built one of the world s best-known brands.
Edwards does an excellent job of telling his story with a fun, outsider-insider voice. The writing is sharp. Boston Globe
An affectionate, compulsively readable recounting of the early years of Google. Publishers Weekly
DOUGLAS EDWARDS was the director of consumer marketing and brand management at Google from 1999 to 2005 and was responsible for setting the tone and direction of the company s communications with its users. Prior to joining Google, Edwards was the online brand group manager for the San Jose Mercury News and the Novosibirsk correspondent for the public radio program Marketplace.
Praise for I m Feeling Lucky
This is the first Google book told from the inside out. The teller is an ex-employee who joined Google early and who treats readers to vivid inside stories of what life was like before Google became a verb. Douglas Edwards recounts Google s stumble and rise with verve and humor and a generosity of spirit missing from many ex-employee accounts. He kept me turning the pages of this engrossing tale. Ken Auletta, author of Googled and The Highwaymen

The best parts of I m Feeling Lucky . . . are those that capture the excitement of being among the explorers and builders who have ventured forth into the new century s new world. Washington Monthly

Edwards does an excellent job of telling his story with a fun, outsider-insider voice. The writing is sharp and takes full advantage of the fact that Edwards was in a unique position to gauge Google s strengths and weaknesses, coming as he did from an old-media background . . . Part of what makes the book so rewarding is Edwards s endlessly nuanced take on his former company and its employees. Boston Globe
An intriguing corporate biography. Christian Science Monitor
Although there have been many journalistic examinations of the world s most valuable Internet brand, this is the first to capture the process and the feeling of what it was like to be there in the early days. Booklist

[Edwards s] perspective as an early employee is valuable and unique . . . the former voice of Google provides a detailed, quirky and expansive half-memoir/half historical record. Kirkus Reviews

An affectionate, compulsively readable recounting of the early years of Google . . . This lively, thoughtful business memoir is more entertaining than it really has any right to be, and should be required reading for startup aficionados. Publishers Weekly, starred review

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