How observing Sundar Pichai at Google helped Indian techie build billion-dollar companies: ‘Thought Chrome was bad idea’
Arvind Jain, co-founder of the billion-dollar companies Rubrik and Glean, has shared his experience of working alongside Google's current chief executive officer (CEO), Sundar Pichai
Arvind Jain, co-founder of the billion-dollar companies Rubrik and Glean, has shared his experience of working alongside Google's current chief executive officer (CEO), Sundar Pichai, and how he played a significant role in Jain's career growth. Speaking to Fortune, Jain revealed that he initially felt hesitant and struggled with self-doubt after relocating from a small town in India to the US. Jain said that joining Google made him feel like an "imposter" because he had not graduated from prestigious universities such as MIT and Stanford. Rather than letting those feelings discourage him, Jain began closely observing the people around him to understand what helped some employees succeed more than others. One of the people he paid close attention to was Sundar Pichai, who had recently joined Google as a product manager. "We were together at Google for a long time. I knew him from when he joined as an individual contributor," Jain exclusively told Fortune.
"At Google, we had people who were brilliant, they came from the best schools, they were highly accomplished, and there were some who grew and shone, and then there were others who didn’t," he said. "I thought that I got lucky, that somehow I got placed in this group of amazing people… And that was why I was trying to learn and observe what makes one succeed?" What impressed Jain about Pichai? According to Jain, Pichai consistently stood out because of his determination, strong work ethic and confidence in ambitious ideas. "What I learned by observing him was that the same attributes kept coming up—intensity, hard work. But also the ability to think big and have confidence," Jain revealed. "You have to think crazy." Jain said this became clear when Pichai strongly supported the development of Google Chrome at a time when many people believed the project had little chance of succeeding.
Also Read | Raymond Lifestyle revamps CEO pay to tackle leadership churn At the time, Microsoft dominated the browser market, Netscape had already failed, and even several Google employees questioned whether launching another browser made sense. "I felt like that’s such a bad idea," he admitted. "I was not thinking big enough." Even Microsoft's then chief executive, Steve Ballmer, publicly dismissed Chrome as a "rounding error." However, Chrome went on to become the world's most widely used web browser. By 2012, it had overtaken its competitors, strengthening Pichai's reputation within Google and helping pave the way for his appointment as Google's CEO in 2015. "You have to say: we’re going to do this thing which everybody thinks is stupid, maybe unrealistic," Jain was quoted as saying by Fortune "That’s when magic happens." Jain believes this willingness to pursue bold ideas was a quality shared by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin as well.
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