My journey to this surreal moment started in 1999 when famed venture capitalist John Doerr pointed out the startup to me. Doerr had invested $12.5 million in an early Google funding round, along with $12.5 million from Sequoia Capital’s Mike Moritz. That the pair of major VC rivals had cooperated was unusual, and they both joined Google’s board of directors. I had grown fond of talking to the whip-smart Doerr, even though he’d often call me up close to deadline on a scoop related to one of his many investments and say: “Are you sure you’re right?”
