It’s 1984. A 12-year-old boy falls asleep
on the dusty floor of a shared, two-bedroom apartment in India. Little does he know, he will one
day become the CEO of one of the biggest tech companies in the world. Google. Now, you might be wondering… how? You see, in a few short years, his
father will take a gamble that will cost the family their life savings. The young boy’s name is Sundar Pichai. He would go on to re-invent Google…
challenging his superiors and creating one of their most impactful inventions to date. Sundar developed an interest
in technology very early on. His life changed drastically in 1982 with the
purchase of his family’s first rotary phone. “It showed the power of what’s
possible with technology.” The phone also made life a lot easier. At the time, he would have to board a bus
and travel for over an hour to a hospital to get results for his mother’s blood tests. He’d wait for another hour in line
only to be told the results weren’t ready and to try again another day. Now, with one simple call, he was able to
avoid the nearly four-hour-long journey. Replacing it with a mere
ten-minute chat on the phone. “The more access my family had to
technology, the better our lives got. So, when I graduated, I knew I wanted
to do something to bring technology to as many people as possible.” The boy’s interest in technology became
more specific when he was introduced to the world of semiconductors. He began to read books on an inventor
of the technology, William Shockley and the work he was doing in Silicon Valley. He knew where the action, the development,
of his interests were taking place. He just needed to get there. It was with a deep passion and promises
of the future, that he got to work. Sundar began by earning a degree in
metallurgical engineering from IIT. It wasn’t smooth sailing right off the bat. “My first year CGP was so bad I
had to work hard to make up for it for the next three years.” But, ultimately, after hunkering down and
working hard, IIT set him on a course that would have a huge impact on his future. It wasn’t only the place where
he met his girlfriend, Anjali. Whom he would go on to marry in
2008 and share two children with. It’s also where he was awarded
a life changing scholarship. To Stanford University. Sundar’s hard work and determination were
beginning to pay off, propelling him one step closer to his visions of Silicon Valley. But, getting this scholarship
wasn’t the hardest part. Physically getting himself from
India all the way to America would prove to be much more challenging. His father, Regunatha, needed to come up
with more than his annual salary in order to make the trip possible for his son. One thousand American dollars. He first tried getting a loan, but
when that fell through, he resorted to the last possible option. Unwilling to let this moment pass
his son by, Ragunatha took the money from the family’s savings. Sundar was taking this
opportunity one way or another. And so, in 1993, after his long-awaited,
first-ever plane ride, suitcase in hand, Sundar landed in America. When Sundar Pichai took the reins
as CEO of Google in October 2015 Google’s stock price sat at just $36 per share 7 years later, it had reached
$96 per share – netting a 15% annualized return for shareholders That kind of return is why Pichai is
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his heart and mind, he emerged from the plane. Looking up at the Californian
sunshine, he knew he was stepping another foot closer to his dreams. Until something hit him. Culture shock. He was astounded to find that a phone call back
home would cost him two dollars per minute. And then there was a backpack. He needed it for school and came
across one with an alarming price tag. Sixty dollars. A normal price for a decent backpack. But for Sundar, $60 was the equivalent to
a month’s worth of his father’s income. So, you can understand Sundar’s shock
when he came across that first backpack. Eventually, he found a much cheaper
one through an online bulletin board. He was not going to take this
opportunity of his for granted. He was going to succeed in America,
and his perseverance and passion would carry him through this next chapter. As Sundar walked into one of the numerous,
computer-filled labs at Stanford, he was reminded of the importance of people’s access
to technology and its effect on their lives. As he spent hours working in the labs, the
internet was developing all around him. In 1995 Sundar graduated from Stanford with a
masters in material science and engineering. He clung to his desire to be involved in
the creation of this new human connectivity. Much to his parent’s disappointment at
the time, he did not return to Stanford upon graduation to obtain a doctorate. Instead, he kept his sights on his goal
of working hands-on in the tech industry. He got a job working in engineering and product
management at Applied Materials, an American semiconductor chip manufacturing corporation. He was now a working
professional in California. More specifically, in Silicon Valley. The destination he had spent so many
days and nights dreaming about reaching. But, he didn’t stop there. It’s April Fool’s Day and Sundar, dressed
for success, walks into the biggest, most life changing interview of his career. But, something big within the
company is taking place today. The launch of Gmail. Sundar isn’t aware of this and,
upon finding out, passes it off as one of Google’s infamous pranks. Google had been known to be a fan of April
Fool’s and had pulled pranks on the general public through fictitious advertisements. To name one of many, there was the MentalPlex
prank of 2000, that asked users to think of what they were in search of while staring
at an animated GIF, with several funny “error” messages appearing as a result. Thankfully, when he admits this, it
doesn’t come as a disadvantage to him. Quite the opposite. His ignorance leaves Google’s senior
VP of people operations remembering Sundar to have intellectual humility. A trait he’s looking for
in the perfect candidate. And as a result, Sundar is hired! He will join Google as the Vice President
of product management and development. His hard work is finally paying off. He’s entering into a position that is better
than anything he had dreamed of before. “I was like a kid in a candy store.” But he wanted more. He continued to climb his way up within Google. Working hard and taking every possible
opportunity for growth that came along. “The thing I’ve noticed over time is you
will have many, many opportunities to reinvent yourself and so, I think it’s
worthwhile taking risks and trying to do something you’re really excited by.” His first role was as the leading
product manager for the Google Toolbar. A feature that streamlined Google’s
use through its placement in the top right corner of competing web browsers. Despite his experience, he was now a
small fish thrown into a big pond, and was surrounded by very knowledgeable
people with many years in their positions. For many, this would put them off their game. But not Sundar. Working with people who made him feel
insecure was right where he wanted to be. “There were many, many times I felt, working
with people in a group, ‘Am I doing enough? These people seem much better than me.’ And,
I think that’s an inherent part of learning.” Sundar felt that if you are secure
in what you’re doing, that would mean you are comfortable, and comfort means
you are not pushing yourself enough. “That’s essential, because it means
you’re working with people who are better than you and who are pushing you.” His mentality of always being better than he
was before and pushing himself past comfort stuck with him as he progressed within Google. Sundar made his first wave when he approached
the company’s co-founders and made a proposal. He saw an opportunity for growth. A gap in their approach when
compared to the competition. Google needed its own web browser. But would the cost outweigh the benefit? CEO Eric Schmidt seemed to think so when
Sundar proposed this addition to the company. He dubbed the idea too costly. Without everyone’s full support,
Sundar was left with only one option. To try again. So, he got back to work, crunching numbers
and making a case for the new browser. And, when he made his second
presentation, that was it. He was given a green light. They were going to war. After several years of hard work and
with Sundar being directly involved in the development of the new
software, Google Chrome was released to the public on Labour Day of 2008. They had finally joined a browser war
that had been waging for years between Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. And soon, they would defeat them both. By May of 2012 Chrome had overtaken
both of its rivals and became the most popular web browser in the world,
eventually with over 65% of the market. It would also be announced as the new
browser for Android devices that same year. Sundar’s risk-taking and persistence were
not only paying off for him anymore, but was translating into success for Google as a whole. Chrome OS had also come to life
along with a line of affordable laptops, now known as Chromebooks. The waves Sundar was making were
getting him noticed by upper management, but unfortunately for Google, also
beyond the confines of the company. It was around this time that he began
to be incessantly sought after by Twitter for high-ranking positions
within the micro-blogging company. Thankfully for Sundar, Google
was not willing to let him go. Offering him a significant financial
incentive to stay right where he was. Sundar became one of the most powerful
tech executives in the world when he was put in charge of Android and began
overseeing Android OS on a global scale. This power move put him in a position
to do something he’d been wanting to do since he was a teenager in India:. Bringing tech to more people globally. And along came Android One. Within a year, it would distribute
a billion devices worldwide. And in October of 2014, Sundar became the
product chief of Google and Android OS. He was now overseeing Google Search, Maps,
Play, Android, Chrome, Gmail and Workspace. But soon everything had the
potential to collapse for Google. They were at risk of losing Sundar again. Only now, to their competition. Microsoft. In 2014, Sundar was widely
publicized to become their new CEO. But Google had big plans for him and were
unwilling to let him slip from their grasp. Again, they offered him a hefty
financial incentive to stick with them. And then on October 2nd, 2015, they
would make him the new CEO of Google. His many years of persistence
and risk-taking had paid off. In July of 2017, he joined the
board of directors for Alphabet, Google’s parent company. And in 2019, when Google’s former CEO stepped
down as CEO of Alphabet, he took over the role. He was now the Chief Executive
Officer of both Google and Alphabet. Never one to give up or let fear
dictate his decisions, Sundar followed his dreams to the very top. He was even awarded the third-highest
civilian award in India in 2022. As of February 2022, he was recorded as
having a net worth of 1.3 billion dollars. Today, he and his wife, college
sweetheart, Anjali, reside together with their daughter Kavya and son Kiran. Sundar Pichai, who started his journey sleeping
on the floor of his family’s home in India now lives in a 40 million dollar mansion. The home boasts a tennis court, miniature
golf course, swimming pool and a guest house. His father’s $1,000 gamble
had finally paid off. This is the story of how a young boy, with
big dreams, living a humble life, let his perseverance and hard work take him on a
journey to become the CEO of one of the largest tech companies in the entire world. Be bold. Take risks. Be OK with being uncomfortable. But most of all, be persistent. “If the first attempt you
don’t do it, you can try again. Things tend to work out in the long run.”
