In Mountain View, Ernst still set Google’s headquarters there.
It wasn’t just about following history; a crucial factor was its geographical location.
Like Santa Barbara, where Ernst resides, Mountain View is also a city under the jurisdiction of Santa Clara County, though the two places are far apart, with a straight-line distance of over four hundred kilometers.
It borders Palo Alto to the north, Los Altos to the southwest, Sunnyvale to the southeast, and faces San Francisco Bay to the northeast.
This is a hinterland surrounded by California’s universities.
Universities like Stanford University, San Jose State University, Santa Clara University, and the University of California, Berkeley are all nearby.
Of course, the most important is Stanford University, located within Palo Alto, just over ten kilometers from Mountain View — a true talent production base.
“How is it?
Are you satisfied with the office environment?” In an old, white building in Mountain View, Google’s logo, personally designed by Ernst, was already hung at the entrance.
The four-story building has an office area of over seven hundred square meters and is full of character, with peeling paint and wall cracks visible in places.
If it hadn’t been simply renovated, it would have been the perfect setting for a haunted house escape room.
But Ernst seemed to have found a treasure.
Why?
Large area, with an independent courtyard exceeding three hundred square meters, offering a private and secluded environment.
The key was the ridiculously cheap rent, only 110,000 dollars a year.
The landlord probably knew it wouldn’t rent out without renovation.
Renting it to Ernst so cheaply wasn’t without the intention of having him pay for the renovations.
But he miscalculated; the current Ernst was a complete pauper.
Because Dolly Copyright Company acquired the copyrights for Hulk and Iron Man, Ernst had to take out another loan.
He now had less than eight million dollars in his hands, five million of which served as Google’s startup capital.
Even renovating the office building had to be calculated meticulously, and it still cost him over four hundred thousand dollars, which shows how dilapidated this headquarters was.
“It’s very good.
I thought it would be in a garage.” Larry Page looked at the surrounding environment and was very satisfied.
“While I don’t deny America’s garage culture, I still want to do my best to let my employees work in a relatively comfortable environment.” In America, garage culture is very prevalent, a kind of inherited skill, with countless large companies born in such places.
It’s not that the founders liked it, but they had no choice.
The main reason is that it’s cheap.
In most people’s mindset, a garage is just a single-function building used to park cars.
However, in American homes, garages are often empty most of the time, as cars are usually parked on the street for easier access.
So many families choose to rent out their garages as storage for those who need it, to supplement their household income.
Another reason is American law, which allows companies to be registered at residential addresses.
However, more important is the superstition, also known as garage culture.
Too many large American companies have emerged from garages.
For example, Harley-Davidson was founded by three brothers in a Milwaukee garage.
Chevrolet is the same; this century-old brand, representing the American spirit, also saw its first car born in a rented garage.
Of course, the most profound influence on tech companies comes from the Silicon Valley myth’s origin — HP.
For 538 dollars and a rented garage, one of the world’s most famous brands was created.
Countless big names have changed their destinies in garages.
These stories lead many startup founders to believe that only in a garage can great enterprises be created, but it’s really just psychological comfort.
No air conditioning, no ventilation, no heating, and no sunlight.
If there were a choice, who would choose a garage?
Having some plants on the windowsill, sitting in an air-conditioned office with a cafeteria and lounge, etc.
Compared to a garage, any worker knows how to choose.
“Ernst, you are right.
At least the unlimited food and snacks make me very satisfied.” Jason Arlington, Google’s current CFO.
Strictly speaking, this person wasn’t recruited by Ernst but was invited by him.
The two are relatives, as Ernst’s mother, Sylvie, used to have the surname Arlington, making this guy Ernst’s cousin.
He certainly couldn’t be stationed at Google all the time, so he needed a trustworthy person to manage Google’s finances for him.
Jason graduated from the University of Notre Dame.
Don’t let the university’s name fool you; its Mendoza College of Business’s accounting program has consistently ranked among the top in America, often in the top ten.
This American-style obese cousin is ten years older than Ernst.
After graduation, he joined Wall Street.
His decision to resign and come to Google was purely because the vision Ernst painted was too beautiful.
‘Finance makes a lot of money, but none of it is yours.
Relying on a salary, you’ll be a workhorse your whole life.
Trust me, within ten years, I’ll help you achieve financial freedom and become someone who rides workhorses.’ Of course, Jason couldn’t possibly resign from a job with an annual salary of over three hundred thousand dollars based on this pitch alone, to earn Ernst’s eighty thousand dollars a year.
Besides his optimism about Google, it was also because of MGM.
Ernst promised that even if Google failed, he would arrange a satisfactory position for him at MGM.
“If everyone eats like you, I might have to change my mind.
I don’t want Google to become the first internet company in history to go bankrupt because its employees ate it into the ground.” The employee cafeteria is one of Ernst’s methods to retain talent, to make employees feel a sense of belonging to the company, like family.
This kind of benefit is common in American internet giants in later generations, but in this era, employee cafeterias are still very special, not even established by Wall Street giants.
Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of American meals — fried chicken legs, sandwiches, burgers, various vegetables and fruits, paired with some coffee, drinks, and ice cream can satisfy employees.
But for the capitalists, these are all costs.
For someone like Jason, eating two burgers or sandwiches, a fried chicken leg with vegetable and fruit salad, drinking two bottles of beverages, and having a few scoops of ice cream for one meal would cost nearly twenty dollars, totaling five hundred dollars a month.
It’s fine with few employees, but with many, this expense would become a burden.
But Ernst was still willing to do this, not just as a competitive tactic, but also as a way to attack competitors.
By raising the cost of talent and increasing benefits, it naturally attracts more talent, forcing competitors to also improve benefits.
And once competitors follow suit, it will increase their costs, turning it into a capital game, where it’s all about who has more money.
For giants, this is a very effective way to strike at newly emerging peers.
So, capitalists are never truly kind; every sugar-coated bullet has a purpose.
“Call Marissa, we’ll gather in the conference room for Google’s first executive meeting.” Marissa Mayer, Google’s Marketing Director; Jason Arlington, CFO; Larry Page, VP of R&D; Sergey Brin, Vice President and acting HR Director; legal matters handled by Wenger; plus Ernst as President.
These are all of Google’s current executives.
Marissa and Jason are professionals, both having worked in their respective fields for many years with rich experience.
As for Sergey and Larry, their strengths are fully utilized.
Larry Page is introverted, passionate about technology, and likes to think about problems from a macro perspective, making him the ideal choice to lead the R&D department.
Sergey Brin is extroverted, good at conversing, and likes to solve problems by focusing on details, making him more suitable for administrative positions.
As for why they have a ‘Vice’ in their titles, there’s no logic in feeding them everything at once; they need a carrot dangling in front of them.