A long piece from Moment, entitled The Story of Sergey Brin, has just been published.
It is a tale about the Google co-founder, from his birth in Russia and move to the U.S and, finally, success at Google. Nothing earth-shattering, though we think the theme of chutzpah is stretched a little far. Keep in mind, Moment is a literary magazine for the American Jewish community. From the piece:
Does any company founded by two Jews, no matter how assimilated, necessarily retain some defining Jewish characteristics? The Google masterminds’ penchant for pushing boundaries—without asking permission—might as well be called chutzpah. However you label it, it’s an attitude that runs deeply through Google and may help explain why the company is embroiled in lawsuits over many of its new projects…
We hadn’t seen this sort of cultural interpretation before.
3 Comments
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Sramana Mitra said:
It’s a nice piece, though. There is something human and decent about the Brin family that comes across, a phenomenon largely absent in the larger Silicon Valley milieu. A ‘value system’ that’s plain good.
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AP Style said:
I’ve read countless pieces of the same vein regarding South Asian (which I am) / Chinese / Korean / etc. entrepreneurs as well. Chutzpah can be readily applied to any ethnic group when you are cherry-picking examples. I agree that Moment is really pushing the theme a bit, but the lessons are still valid for anyone.
Leave the ethnicity out of it and focus on the individual please. What was the cultural fuel for Gates/Ellison/Hurley/Bezos/andonandon?
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Mark Wendman said:
Excellent story at Momentmag.
Even though a short periodical piece, it opens a window into Sergey’s background, the way some other excellent science books have discussed important characters - like “Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman” dove into Nobel Prize winning PhD Richard Feynman’s unique character, and the superb book “Laser: The Inventor, the Nobel Laureate, and the Thirty-Year Patent War” dove into the arcane story of Gordon Gould’s invention and development of the first lasers.
While some are less comfortable reading cultural phrases they are less familiar with, other folks whose families remember experiences of previously endured risky emigration, with its typical early poverty - can often understand the unusual character stories that often result from the voyages of long ago…..
Forget your past and you often take for granted the precious times and privileges of the present.
Sergey and Larry are both obviously outstanding brilliant guys and the cultural voyage described of Sergey’s early days is heartwarming and at times whimsical in ways that some can appreciate.
What very deserving guys and what astounding, amazing accomplishments !!
(Tikun Olam - “translated” by google as “Do No Evil” is wonderful, and the intent is sincere)
