In the connected world, it's never too late to ask your question
by
Tom Hill
Last month I was in Pittsburg PA., and two EDS Fellows, Terry White and Dr. Klaus Schmidt, were in Menlo Park, CA.
The messaging went something like this;
Terry to Tom - Klaus and I will miss the call today, we are in Menlo Park for a meeting.
Tom to Terry - Are you in the Sun facility? If so, make sure you meet Andy Bechtolsheim, one of the original founders of Sun in 82.
Terry to Tom - Funny you should ask. It's his session that is in conflict with the fellow's call. We are talking with him now. Andy's very interesting. He has a lot to say and does it very fast.
Tom to Terry - I forgot to ask Andy a question last time I was there. Please ask him, how he knew to invest in Google in the early, early days?
Terry to Tom - His answer to your question: (paraphrased)
- He understood the idea in 10 seconds - have to be able to quickly understand Google was focused on making money from clicks (on Ads).
- Andy figured 1 million clicks a day at 5 cents each would be able to support a business model - it would make money.
- Google didn't want traditional VC funding - didn't want to be valued too high too soon. He said that today there are some Ads selling at $100 a click, many at $5-10 a click. That amount of success was unexpected.
Tom to Terry - Looks like they lost the battle on being valued high – not a bad problem to have. Thanks.
