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Living the Good Life, Leaving Google Behind
inetsee writes with an article in the San Francisco Chronicle profiling seven early Googlers who have left the company, part of a cohort the article claims amounts to 100 out of the first 300 workers hired by Google. For these former employees, all the acclaimed perks of life at the Googleplex can't compete with calling the shots in their own lives. Google's chef is opening his own restaurant, Olana Khan has started a non-profit that makes micro-loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries, and Aydin Senkut has become an angel investor. Others are simply enjoying retirement, making things in the garage shop or skydiving in South Africa.
In addition to adverstising, they make their money selling their services to other providers and businesses. Google is not merely a link aggregator but more a service provider. Think Apple. Yes, they sell an operating system but they really make their money on the hardware.
Google is actually a very good business and your surprise at them still being in business, well, let's just say I wouldn't give you my money to invest.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
When in school, I attended an Accenture (Andersen Consulting at that time) hiring event in which I was told that I could be VP in 5 years just because almost everyone just quit within the first 3 years (with some money and a breakdown). The funny thing is that they managed to tell this almost as something positive.