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prateekdwv's Reviews (52)
Reading this book in 2018 is too late, was what I thought when I picked it up. The revenue model of Google is no more a mystery as it used to be way back then. Google has always been an open company, what could this book have that we all don't know? It isn't a legacy to be celebrated, we are seeing Google taking new heights in front of our eyes.
It turned out that I was wrong. No matter how much I knew about this giant, without this book I would have never learned about one trait of its cofounder which was instilled in everyone who joined them. It was INTEGRITY.
When I was somewhere in the middle of this book, a famous Indian e-commerce website was acquired by an American multinational retail corporation. I was personally disappointed with the turn of events. Soon I started to feel sympathetic for the cofounders who must have to make a compromising decision because of being under pressure of their Investors.
And then I read about the pressure the Google cofounder had on them to make their company public. And how seamlessly they did it but on their own terms. They respected what they have built over the years, but kept the trust of their customers who were also emotionally attached to Google above all. I was so glad that the book gave such a very comprehensive view of in and around Googleplex.
My review might have taken away few stars for being slightly biased towards the success of Google and not discussing their failures. But considering that the book first published seven years after the Google was founded, no one really cared much about what wrong they were doing. At that time they were making up for what was wrong happening around. Possibly a sequel can dive into that.
It turned out that I was wrong. No matter how much I knew about this giant, without this book I would have never learned about one trait of its cofounder which was instilled in everyone who joined them. It was INTEGRITY.
When I was somewhere in the middle of this book, a famous Indian e-commerce website was acquired by an American multinational retail corporation. I was personally disappointed with the turn of events. Soon I started to feel sympathetic for the cofounders who must have to make a compromising decision because of being under pressure of their Investors.
And then I read about the pressure the Google cofounder had on them to make their company public. And how seamlessly they did it but on their own terms. They respected what they have built over the years, but kept the trust of their customers who were also emotionally attached to Google above all. I was so glad that the book gave such a very comprehensive view of in and around Googleplex.
My review might have taken away few stars for being slightly biased towards the success of Google and not discussing their failures. But considering that the book first published seven years after the Google was founded, no one really cared much about what wrong they were doing. At that time they were making up for what was wrong happening around. Possibly a sequel can dive into that.
Halfway through the book and I was already impressed with what I was reading. How many of us knew that E. Shreedharan was behind delivering marvelous projects like Rani Padmavati ship and Konkan Railways, before Delhi Metro? The book for me was an eye-opener.
I'm glad that this book presented all the facts just the way it is. I'm sincerely interested in knowing more about his views on the decisions he took to deliver projects of huge national importance so efficiently. But I would never want to read or hear that from someone other than E. Shreedharan himself. Of course, just like anyone else, I had my own expectation with a biography of E. Shreedharan. However, learning that there were so many more things he did before becoming Metro Man of the nation, I was more interested in facts. One might argue that we could have found facts on the Internet. But a good biography binds together the bittersweet incidents of a person's life in a story. And this book has done it quite well.
Few bits in the book that made it even more fascinating were the discussion on the life of GP Warrier and other famous engineers. These were the parts which made me realize that little do we know about the magnificent infrastructure in our country and the people who gave their sweat and blood to build it.
This is surely a book that will be close to my heart for all the coming years of my life.
I'm glad that this book presented all the facts just the way it is. I'm sincerely interested in knowing more about his views on the decisions he took to deliver projects of huge national importance so efficiently. But I would never want to read or hear that from someone other than E. Shreedharan himself. Of course, just like anyone else, I had my own expectation with a biography of E. Shreedharan. However, learning that there were so many more things he did before becoming Metro Man of the nation, I was more interested in facts. One might argue that we could have found facts on the Internet. But a good biography binds together the bittersweet incidents of a person's life in a story. And this book has done it quite well.
Few bits in the book that made it even more fascinating were the discussion on the life of GP Warrier and other famous engineers. These were the parts which made me realize that little do we know about the magnificent infrastructure in our country and the people who gave their sweat and blood to build it.
This is surely a book that will be close to my heart for all the coming years of my life.
