GQ Article on Google, and the Challenge of Boy Entrepreneurs

GQ article on Google by John Heilemann. This article has a ton of great behind-the-scenes stories about Google and the Silicon Valley VC community generally. My favorite dirt was the story about Larry sitting in a plate of crème fraîche during the IPO, and Schmidt’s response (“we’ve seen worse”).

The article explores a running theme about the interaction between boy entrepreneurs and adult CEOs. This theme really resonated with me based on my experience working with several boy entrepreneurs in my past, including the founders of theglobe.com and Epinions. I think the article neatly captures the tension of encouraging youthful brilliance while channeling the energy towards productive ends. There is a fine line to walk, and it takes a rare and unique talent to do it successfully. This is why I thought the article passed the spotlight too quickly over Bill Campbell, who “coached” us at Epinions and made a real difference with us as well.