Hire as many talented software engineers as possible, and give them freedom. This approach suited a company born in a university lab, since in academia the most valuable asset is intellect (also, for some American universities, the ability to throw a football fifty yards). But while most companies say that their employees are everything, Larry and Sergey actually ran the company that way. This behavior wasn’t corporate messaging, and it wasn’t altruism. They felt that attracting and leading the very best engineers was the only way for Google to thrive and achieve its lofty ambitions. And they
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