Stanford Entrepreneurship Videos

According to Hawkins, no one remembers the 14 hours at work or the time missed with their kids. What people remember is if they changed the world, if they had a good time in the process, or if they promoted a positive culture. He talks about balance in regards to developing a great product and having a normal life. Hawkins believes that you can do it all and live a normal life!

Hawkins is working on his third start-up. Besides starting Palm and Handspring, Hawkins also followed his passion for theoretical neuroscience, the study of how certain parts of the brain work from an information theory point of view. He started a non-profit research institute called the Redwood NeuroScience Institute. Through this experience, he learned that starting a non-profit is just like starting a business.

Hawkins believes you have to be conscious and methodological about your company culture. The culture starts at the top and permeates to the bottom. The culture at palm is a product culture. High integrity is not just internal, but integrity with vendors, suppliers and customers. A lot of companies keep secrets, but the transparency has been very good for Palm, Hawkins points out. A good, solid culture can help a company go through hard times.

Hawkins talks on the importance and inevitability of portablity. With portability comes small size, low cost, simplicity and the need for less power. With wireless networks on their way to becoming very inexpensive, Hawkins envisions a T1 line with high horse power and large memory in the pocket! The need for portability will make the item in your pocket the center of your universe, he says. He notes that there will be obstacles, but believes that this shift is inevitable.

Google has been caught in the middle of free speech vs. censorship issues. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act states that if a company removes information from the internet when requested, they cannot be held liable. If the company is then counter-notified, they can put the information back up and remain legally neutral. Google has followed this policy, says co-founder Larry Page, but it has nevertheless sparked controversy.

A large amount of time is spent in the hiring process at Google because the company is serious about employing only the very best people. Because of the high profile of the company, they receive over a thousand resumes a day, according to co-founder Larry Page and CEO Eric Schmidt. Many hires result from these resumes, but only after comprehensive reference checks.

The founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin believe that it is incredibly important for people to have access to information around the world -- and that this is something that Google can deliver. They have run into issues with foreign governments over censorship, but recently it has not been a major problem. CEO Eric Schmidt predicts that Google will become an unintended central focus around global copyright and ownership legal issues.

Late one night, a group of excited people congregated in the office of Larry Page, co-founder of Google, over a bottle of champagne. Around 80 people came to watch the event from outside, curious about what was going on. The event was the signing of the AOL contract that was the culmination of months of hard work.

Google makes money through selling targeted advertising on its site, which is more effective than broad-based advertising. In addition, they receive revenue from providing search capabilities to other companies, says co-founder Larry Page. Surprisingly, the model used today is remarkably similar to the original business model presented to venture capitalists.

The first aspect Google considers when hiring is evaluating the applicant's capability of simply doing the job. Next, they look for people who can think outside the box, but still work within Google culture. Third, communication skills are critical for any employee, even engineers. Overall, co-founder Larry Page and CEO Eric Schmidt have found that if someone is exceptional at something, it is usually a good indicator that they are exceptional at everything.

In the beginning, co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin tried to license Google to other companies because they wanted to finish their PhD's, but none were interested. Google was started out of desperation; they had no other option but to start the company themselves. Though the founders do worry about competition, the barrier to entry is continuously increasing as Google indexes more and more documents and becomes the foundation of so many other services.

Larry Page, co-founder of Google, reveals that basic research and good ideas are the key components to creating a tremendous opportunity in the tech market. A lot of new knowledge is being created all the time and much of it can be used as the foundation for innovation.

Google competed with several other companies, including Overture, for the AOL deal. Though Overture offered more money because they are a public company, Google offered more ideas about additional services for AOL customers. The AOL CEO decided to make the decision that was best for the customers and went with Google, recalls co-founder Larry Page.

Google will always be a search engine, despite any additional directions the company may take, because it is a critical part of the mission the founders Page and Brin have defined. Also, says the company, the search engine is far from perfect and still requires many developments before it is complete.

When CEO Eric Schmidt started at Google, his job was largely centered around providing some organizational design. The culture was working well but the company needed more structure. He hired a financial and controller system, instituted staff meetings, and set and reviewed quarterly objectives.