
Susan Wojcicki: The most important Googler you've never heard of - mad44
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_17286427?nclick_check=1
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c2
I guess I could also comment about the article itself.

It's great that Susan is an influential level-headed intuitive executive at
Google, and I suppose it's somewhat noteworthy that it was her garage that was
originally used as Google's office, but aside from that I'm not sure what the
point is. Her style is reminiscent of several senior vice presidents at
several companies I've worked at, and her contributions don't seem manifestly
larger then any other SVP in charge of a major project. Sure, she makes the
most money at the company, but I'm not sure that entitles her to a special
spot in Google's history at the same level as the other 12 SVPs and certainly
not the founders themselves.

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nostrademons
I wonder if the Mercury News is doing a series on some of the lesser-known
Google leaders. They did a profile of my VP over the summer:

<http://www.physorg.com/news202108905.html>

I think it's a refreshing change from the mainstream press, which seems to be
"All Marissa, all the time" when they're not talking about Page/Brin/Schmidt.

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c2
"Paul Buchheit, the founder of Gmail, had the idea to run ads within Google's
e-mail service. But he and others say it was Wojcicki, with the backing of
Brin, who organized the team that adapted that idea into an enormously
successful product."

Nothing to do with the article, but I just find the "founder of Gmail"
language a bit funny in this case. I don't normally associate the "founder"
relationship with projects invested in and resourced (and, not to mention,
wholly owned) by a large corporation. Being the initial developer != founder.

~~~
procrastitron
We often see the word "founder" used as an abbreviation of the phrase "startup
founder", but that only applies when used in the context of discussing a
startup.

The word itself is perfectly applicable in various contexts that have nothing
to do with startup companies; charities, political parties, bands, and
internal projects. As such, referring to Buchheit as the founder of Gmail is
reasonable.

~~~
c2
Internal projects is the one outlier there I don't agree with. At every single
company I've worked in, I've spearheaded new ideas and new projects I think it
would be worthwhile for the company to pursue. It has happened that the
company chooses to invest in the idea I brought forward, but in that case I
wouldn't consider myself the "founder" of "idea X". I was the origin of the
idea, the main cheerleader, the developer of the prototype, the project
manager, etc., but not the "founder".

I don't know, maybe it's an asinine point, but I don't think that's typically
how the word founder is used, and it still seems funny to me.

~~~
nostrademons
I think people make an exception for GMail because in terms of innovativeness,
it could easily have been a startup in its own right. People make similar
exceptions for other companies, eg. Jef Raskin is often called "the founder of
the Macintosh" despite it being developed inside Apple, Ray Ozzie is called
"the founder of Lotus Notes" despite it being funded by Lotus.

~~~
whatusername
But Ozzie was the Founder of Iris Associates --
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_Associates> \-- who actually created Notes.

~~~
nostrademons
And (from the article) Iris development was funded almost exclusively by
Lotus, under contract, with an exclusive option to purchase all the IP
generated. That sounds a lot like a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Most laypeople think in terms of products, not corporate entities. The various
international Google subsidiaries are all separate corporations, yet the
lawyers & VPs who set them up aren't considered "founders" of them. Meanwhile,
business units that operate with significant autonomy and generate a product
that's distinct from the parent company's main business usually do have a
"founder" figure.

Where would you put Android on this continuum? It's a business unit within
Google now. However, it's run with a large degree of autonomy, has its own
codebase, and creates a product quite distinct from Google. And moreover, it
actually _was_ founded by Andy Rubin as an independent startup, but purchased
well before they got to market.

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gatsby
Related article from 2007 that gives further information about Susan's house
and her role in Google:
[http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/corporatenews/2007...](http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/corporatenews/2007-07-04-google-
wojcicki_N.htm)

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dvdhsu
Interestingly enough, her mother, Esther Wojcicki is a teacher at my school.

