I'm Feeling Lucky

The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59

By: Douglas Edwards

Narrated by: Douglas Edwards

Comparing Google to an ordinary business is like comparing a rocket to an Edsel. No academic analysis or bystander's account can capture it. Now Doug Edwards, Employee Number 59, offers the first inside view of Google, giving listeners a chance to fully experience the bizarre mix of camaraderie and competition at this phenomenal company.

Edwards, Google's first director of marketing and brand management, describes it as it happened. We see the first, pioneering steps of Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the company's young, idiosyncratic partners; the evolution of the company's famously nonhierarchical structure (where every employee finds a problem to tackle or a feature to create and works independently); the development of brand identity; the races to develop and implement each new feature; and the many ideas that never came to pass. Above all, Edwards - a former journalist who knows how to write - captures the Google Experience, the rollercoaster ride of being part of a company creating itself in a whole new universe.

I'm Feeling Lucky captures for the first time the unique, self-invented, yet profoundly important culture of the world's most transformative corporation.

©2011 Douglas Edwards (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This lively, thoughtful business memoir is more entertaining than it really has any right to be, and should be required reading for startup aficionados." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Douglas Edwards is indeed lucky, sort of an accidental millionaire, a reluctant bystander in a sea of computer geniuses who changed the world. This is a rare look at what happened inside the building of the most important company of our time." (Seth Godin)

"Douglas Edwards recounts Google's stumble and rise with verve and humor and a generosity of spirit. He kept me turning the pages of this engrossing tale." (Ken Auletta, author of Googled: The End of the World as We Know It)

“With a warm, approachable tone and perfect pacing, Edwards narrates his detailed account of his experiences as an early employee of Google, Inc….Edwards seems a natural as he provides a highly listenable audio performance….the listener walks away with a better understanding of how true organizational creativity and brilliant technical engineering can impact the human condition and world culture.” ( AudioFile)

It Started Out OK, But It Lost Me

I think I may have been expecting a little too much from a book about one of the most exciting and interesting companies to ever come around.

It started out OK as we heard about how Google sprouted from an acorn, but about a quarter of the way through I lost interest as the minutia in the details was too much.

Google fanatics will probably enjoy it. I preferred to use my other audibe.com credits and move on. Perhaps I gave up too soon and will one day revisit.

Great Insight.

Great book from someone who got in on not quite the ground floor of Google, maybe the 1st floor! It shows the passion of the founders and their bucking of traditional marketing ideas to make one of the most powerful tech companies on the planet.

Great book

I wish it was more linear in time, the flip-flopping in time caused me some issues completely understanding the order of the events.

Really enjoyed this book

It was interesting to read an insider talk about Google. Yes he lef a while ago but it wasmeant to be his personal story and he conveyed it with sincerity, fairness and even humor.

A Job-Culture Mind-Shift

What made the experience of listening to I'm Feeling Lucky the most enjoyable?

It is clearly and unashamedly a single person's perspective of the early part of the Google story. However, what lends credibility to the narrative is the author's openness about his difficulty in transitioning from the ingrained working culture of his previous life, to a new up-is-down, black-might-be-white world of Brin and Page.

Did Google succeed with a great technology product despite this contrarian, unconventional thinking, or because of it?

I'm not sure, but it must have been challenging and fun to be a part of that experience and that is what is conveyed in this book, and that is why I enjoyed it.

What does Douglas Edwards bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I like listening to books read by the author when the author has the voice and skill to pull it off, and Douglas Edwards does a fine job.

Any additional comments?

A fascinating and fun read (listen). I recommend it.

Great insight to Google!

It is a good book and you get to know Google and how it all started.

Facinating

What did you love best about I'm Feeling Lucky?

How is was described

What other book might you compare I'm Feeling Lucky to and why?

not sure

Which character – as performed by Douglas Edwards – was your favorite?

Doug

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

no, but it made me think...

Any additional comments?

Interesting Read. Business Related. Very Enjoyable

Brilliant!

The story, the narration - all exceeded my expectations! First impression is that it is a bit slow sorry, and the narrator is not that good,but suddenly I realized how much I love it and must admit that I can not imagine anyone else reading it.
Must read for everyone interested in tech.

Redefines 5 stars

Great book. Really enjoyable story, terrific insight, well read. I will judge future ratings against this benchmark.

Fine work.

Edwards writes from his experience in the early days at Google. He catches the spirit of the startup very nicely. Those who enjoyed Tracy Kidder's "Soul of a New Machine" or Michael Lewis's "Liars Poker" will enjoy this book.