Proof of work "Google"

Google is not built on the Search Engine.

But it comes from a belief that the world took decades to understand.

In 1996, Larry Page, a PhD student,

of Stanford, waking up in the middle of the night from a dream.

In that dream, he thought of a strange idea.

"What if we can download the whole Internet down?"

Many people may see it as just a fanciful idea of college students, but what matters is not that dream.

What matters is the question that follows.

Larry didn't ask that.

"What is the information on the Internet?"

But he asked,

"How do we know which information is the most important?"

And that question became the beginning of the company.

More than $2 trillion later.

During that time,

The Internet is growing rapidly.

New websites happen every day.

New information is generated every hour.

But the Search Engine of that era still didn't work very well.

The search results are full of low-quality websites.

Full of Spam.

Full of information nobody wants to read.

Larry Page views this issue differently than anyone else.

He doesn't view the Search Engine as having too little information.

He sees the world as too informed.

And the real problem is that nobody knows what's important.

This is what I like about Google stories.

Because it's a perfect example of First Principle.

Larry didn't start by asking that.

"What does the best Search Engine look like?"

He asked,

"How do humans judge the importance of information?"

In the academic world, research is very referenced.

Often valuable research.

So he made the simple assumption that

If one website is approached frequently by another website

It could be a more important site.

This concept was further developed into PageRank.

The algorithm that changed the Internet forever.

At that time, the project was called Backrub.

Sounds no different from a typical student project.

No one thought it would become a global company.

Even Larry Page and Sergey Brin himself.

What many people don't know is

Both of them once tried to sell Google.

They want to go back to graduation.

Want to continue research

And see that there may be some big companies interested in this technology.

They offered Google for $1 million.

Many companies deny Yahoo doesn't care, Excite doesn't care.

Almost no one sees its value.

Think about it. Today we look back.

And felt it was a big mistake.

But in 1997, no one knew what Google would become.

This is what I think is most interesting.

Because the story of the great founder

Never looked grand on the day it was happening.

These days, we see Google.

Saw Alphabet.

See $2 trillion worth of companies.

"It must be done."

But the truth is,

- No one knows.

- No one's sure.

- And no one sees that future.

🧭 What makes Larry Page and Sergey Brin different

It's not because they see the future.

But because they believe in the problem being solved,

Enough to walk on. Even on days when no one understands.

This is why I like the word

Proof of Work over the word Success

Success is the result, but Proof of Work is the evidence.

Proof that you spent long enough on that problem.

- Think about it long enough.

- Failed with it long enough.

- Create real value long enough.

...Until the world began to accept

Google is not born out of luck.

Not formed by marketing.

And it doesn't happen to have a single good idea.

It was caused by thousands of small decisions.

That has accumulated continuously for decades.

For me, Google is not just a technology company.

But it is physical evidence of proven belief.

Sometimes when no one buys what you build,

Doesn't mean it has no value.

Sometimes it can mean

The world still doesn't understand its value.

📍 Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Used to try to sell Google.

Nobody wants it for $1 million.

But they kept walking.

Still solve the same problem.

And still believe in what is being built.

Nearly 30 years have passed, "Google" has become one of the most influential companies in the history of mankind.

And maybe

The most important lesson of this

Probably not worth $2 trillion.

But maybe it's one simple fact.

"The greatest thing in the world.

Often starting with something that looks ordinary.

And it took a long time for most people to be patient. "

Because in the end

The value of a company does not create a founder.

But it was the founders who created the value of the company.

# MoneyAtlas # FirstPrinciple # SystemThinking