Google’s Unique IPO Success
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google, worked out of a dorm room and developed a new approach to online search while working on their PhD’s at Stanford University. In September of 1998, Google Inc. was born and quickly grew into the world’s largest search engine that provides an easy-to-use free service that returns results in a fraction of a second. (google, 2008)
Reaching the top of the search engine world involved risk taking and many changes. One specific change was the decision to go public. Despite, being in position to benefit immensely, Page and Brin had reservations. Google was built with the atmosphere of a funhouse. The company’s “quirky culture, which includes an array of colorful office toys, roller-hockey games, free meals prepared by the Grateful Dead's former chef, and a business mandate requiring workers to devote one day per week to their own pet projects” (Liedtke, 2008) was likely to be challenged by Wall Street investors.
The founders approached the idea of going public in two unique ways. First, they released a letter with the initial filling with the SEC for an IPO. The letter was later referred to as Google’s declaration of independence. In the letter, Google founders declared that “searching and organizing the world's information was an unusually important task that should be carried out by a company that is trustworthy and interested in the public good. they believe a well-functioning society should have abundant, free and unbiased access to high quality information. Google therefore has a responsibility to the world." (Vise, 2008) Basically, “Google warned potential ...