From an Idea to Google: How Innovation at Google Changed the World

By Lowey Bundy Sichol and C.S. Jennings

From an Idea to Google is a behind-the-computer-screen look into the history, business, and brand of the world's largest search engine. With humorous black & white illustrations throughout, learn about the company that even earned its own catchphrase: Google it!

Today, Google is the number one internet search engine and the most visited website in the world. But a long time ago, two college friends, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, started out with just an idea. Find out more about Google’s history, the business, and the brand in this illustrated nonfiction book!

Find out where the name “Google” came from. (Hint: It involves a LOT of zeros!)

Discover how Google became the fastest and most popular internet search engine of all time.

Explore how Google transformed from a tiny startup (in someone’s garage!) into one of the most powerful companies in the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jul 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9780358056003

Lowey Bundy Sichol

Lowey Bundy Sichol is the author and creator of From an Idea to..., the world’s first business biographies for kids. She is also the founder and principal of Case Marketing, a specialized writing firm that composes MBA case studies for business schools. Her MBA case studies have been published by Pearson and are read by business school students all over the world. ?With over 20 years combined experience in marketing, brand management, and writing, Lowey is the force behind the From an Idea to…, a movement that introduces business and entrepreneurship to children. Lowey received her MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and her BA from Hamilton College where she played varsity softball and women's rugby. When she's not writing, you can find her throwing a ball, shooting hoops, or along the shores of Lake Michigan with her husband, three children, and two big goofy dogs who like to climb trees. Look for her online at loweysichol.com. 

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by Lowey Bundy Sichol

Illustrations copyright © 2019 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Illustrations by C.S. Jennings

All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to [e-mail] or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

hmhbooks.com

Cover design by Phil Caminiti

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Names: Sichol, Lowey Bundy, author.

Title: From an idea to Google / by Lowey Bundy Sichol.

Description: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [2019] | Series: From an idea to . . . ; 4

Identifiers: LCCN 2018016633 | ISBN 9781328954916 (paper over board) | ISBN 9781328954923 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Google (Firm)—Juvenile literature. | Google—Juvenile literature. | Internet industry—United States—Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC HD9696.8.U64 G6666 2019 | DDC 338.7/61025040973—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018016633

eISBN 978-0-358-05600-3

v1.0619

For everyone at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (past, present, and future).

A special thanks to Professor Kevin Lane Keller, who taught me at Tuck, employed me as a case writer, and has always provided unparalleled advice and guidance.

We see being great at something as a starting point, not an endpoint.

—Larry Page and Sergey Brin

Have you ever wondered what the business story behind Google is?

You probably use Google every day in one way or another. You undoubtedly look for information with Google Search. Maybe you also have a Gmail email account. You might post your schoolwork on Google Docs. And your parents probably get directions and check traffic through Google Maps.

Today, Google is the most popular website in the world. There are close to four million Google searches every minute, which comes out to over two trillion Google searches each year! And Google is much more than a search engine—it owns more than a hundred different products that help make billions of people’s lives better and easier.

But before Google changed our lives, it was just an idea. An idea that two friends, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, had while they were studying computer science at Stanford University. This is the story of Google and how it grew from an idea to the most valuable company in the world.

Chapter 1

Larry Page

LARRY’S CHILDHOOD

Larry Page was born on March 26, 1973, in East Lansing, Michigan, the hometown to Michigan State University. Larry’s parents were dedicated and devoted to both Larry and his older brother, Carl Jr. They encouraged creativity and intellectual conversation, and they valued nothing more than a good education.

When I was younger and first started thinking about my future, I decided to either become a professor or start a company.—Larry Page

Larry’s father, Dr. Carl Page, was the first person in his family to graduate high school and attend college. A gifted mathematician, Carl studied engineering and was a pioneer in the field of computer science, earning one of the first computer science PhDs from the University of Michigan. Carl went on to teach computer science at Michigan State University.

Larry’s mother, Gloria Page, was passionate about computer science as well. She taught computer programming at Lyman Briggs College, a residential college at Michigan State University.

As a child, Larry had the same distinctive characteristics he does today—short, straight black hair, thick, dark eyebrows, and a big, toothy smile. Larry attended the Okemos Montessori School in Okemos, Michigan, where he had the freedom to self-direct his education and explore school subjects independently. The environment was perfect for quirky, quiet, and curious Larry.

Back at home, Larry was immersed in a world of computers. He explained, I was really lucky that my father was a computer science professor, which was unusual for someone my age. One day in 1978, Carl Page purchased and brought home the family’s