I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59

Posted on November 09, 2011

I think people in the technology industry are universally interested in the inner workings of Google. Over the years, so many myths and legends have been born that allude to the largess and brilliance of the search giant. Frequently people post blogs purporting to provide some insight into the interviewing process, salary and bonus structures, staff parties, experimental technology, new market entry etc. Given this interest, I suspect that I’m Feeling Lucky by Douglas Edwards has/will do rather well.

It may or may not be due to my technology background, but I found the book a compelling read. The google story on its own is one of a meteoric rise that pitted a young, highly motivated and infinitely talented company against the establishment. More interesting for me though was the personal experiences and the insight into how all those people, individually very talented, melded together to create the biggest technology success of the internet era.

I thoroughly enjoyed how, chapter after chapter, Douglas described the significant milestones of Google’s growth story. Each milestone describes how the individuals involved were challenged and how they responded to the challenge. Naturally, the interactions with Larry and Sergey were of particular interest.