Straight from the horse's mouth: Eric Schmidt, king of Google castle, the capitol of the kingdom of Larry Page and Sergey Brin, told reporters yesterday that the secret to Google's success is its
stupidity. "We are idiots," Schmidt said with the slightest hint of condescension in his voice. "And please write that down." Schmidt was talking about the rocky road the company suffered in silence
during and immediately after its initial public offering two years ago. "Between the time we filed to go public and the time we went public," he recalls, "the press was among the most unpleasant I
have ever experienced. We were 'idiots'; we were 'useless.'" Of course, we all know how Page, Brin, Schmidt, and company had the last laugh: Google followed up its IPO debacle with monster results
that rocketed its share price, a trend that would continue for the next two years. After more than quadrupling, Google's market capitalization now stands at $120 billion. TheStreet.com columnist Kevin
Kelleher blasted Schmidt for the speech, which he implied sounded "slippery and manipulative" and "very much rehearsed."
Read the whole story at TheStreet.com »
