Ruth Ann S. Basnillo                                                                                                6/25/2008

SYSANAL

O0A

Paul Buchheit

Creator, Gmail

Story:

            Paul Buchheit, Google’s 23^rd employee, created and developed Gmail. It was about 1996 when Buchheit started working on email software which he was calling Gmail even before working at Google. Years later, he left Intel and joined Google. He worked on Google Groups where he was asked to build some type of email or personalization product. He was able to build the first version of Gmail in one day using the Groups code, which he was familiar with. Then, he released that to some Googlers and they said it was useful even though it was just searching his email. As part of his work on Gmail, he developed the first prototype of AdSense, Google’s program for running ads on other websites. For quite a while, it was just him working. Then, Sanjeev singh came to work on it and then for some time, Jing Lim joined. Working on Gmail took Buchheit kind of liking uncertainty because he’s into excitement and adventure, but a lot of people seem to be against his ideas except for Google founders Larry and Sergey who are very open to crazy ideas. Gmail had many features like the auto complete where people could send email so fast without remembering the addresses. It’s a feature that at first other web mails don’t have. Another thing is the conversation view, which when clicked would let you get all of the messages as cards instead of separate emails. Google employees were actually the first to use Gmail before it was launched and the code name at the time was Caribou. Initially, Gmail was just an invitation only to avoid spamming of millions of accounts but anyone can sign up now even using their cell phones or through the Blogger. Truly, Buchheit had a lot of contributions to Google, and another example was his suggestion of Google’s now famous motto, “Don’t be evil,” at a 200 meeting on company values.

THREE THINGS I LEARNED:

            I learned many things from how Gmail was created. First, I learned that even though you’re just an employee in a company, you could do a difference through your ideas. Just like Paul Buchheit, he was able to bring the company up through his idea of crating a web-based email system which is Gmail. Although many people are against his ideas, he was able to resist those and pursue on doing what e wanted. Moreover, he was also the person to have the idea of Google’s value through his famous motto, “Don’t be evil.” Though he was not a cofounder of Google, he is said to have probably contributed more to the company than many founders do their startups.

             Next, I learned that you don’t have to have mentors before working on something which you have no idea how to work with. It will only take you the desire to learn and apply what you have learned. Looking at how different parts of Google’s works could apply to Gmail and deciding whether Google’s problem is different from theirs is what Buchheit used to make Gmail a success.

            Lastly, I learned that in a startup, you need to have an attitude of being open to ideas even to the crazy ones. It’s not always luck that makes a startup successful but it’s because of the founder’s attitude. Examples of those founders are Larry and Sergey of Google. Without them and without Buchheit’s determination, Gmail will be out of sight because a lot of people were really against Buchheit’s ideas.