Sometimes the myth is reality, sometimes a bunch of people sitting around someone's garage brainstorming really do come up with the next, next thing.
And in the case of Google, that garage belonged to Susan Wojcicki ('89).
Calling her "the most important Googler you've never heard of," the San Jose Mercury News recently profiled Wojcicki (who recently joined UCLA Anderson's board of Visitors) and noted that story about her garage is the least important fact about her association with Google.
The article points out:
Wojcicki, in short, might be the most important Googler you've never heard of -- even many who recall her garage's place in Silicon Valley history don't realize that its former owner went on to become arguably the key figure in Google's online advertising juggernaut.
Wojcicki's contributions to Google's growth are "absolutely not" appreciated outside of the Googleplex, said Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, a former Googler. "I don't think she's concerned about that. Susan's interested in doing a great job and making sure her team gets recognition for the things they do. ... Within Google, the executives and certainly
the people on her team have enormous respect for her."
Inside the company, the low-key, even-keeled executive is known as a talented manager who inspires people under her with her willingness to share credit. As Google's chief moneymaker -- advertising products under Wojcicki brought in $28.2 billion in revenue in 2010 -- she also has a striking belief in the odd mix of professorial idealism and capitalistic ambition that comprises Google's sense of self.
"The reason I like my job is that I have this desire to create," Wojcicki told the Mercury News recently in a rare interview. "I have this desire to create things and build things, and Google has enabled me to build and create things and to build products that are used by people all over the globe."
Wojcicki has still another role at Google. She has helped shape the company's unconventional culture, drawing on her experience as the first Googler to have a baby and as a pioneer who has navigated the cultural land mines that make women so rare among Silicon Valley executives.
As a senior vice-presidentat Google, Wojcicki (according to the article) oversees advertising products that account for 96% of the company's revenue. She is responsible for AdSense (which puts Google ads on websites and blogs) and she was behind Google's acquisitions of DoubleClick and YouTube.
Read more about Susan here and find out how she's guiding Google to do business beyond usual.
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