Only after he left the room did I realized I was talking to Sergey Brin. And he had just given me permission to work on the fringes.
I was part of a workshop on the ‘Next Generation of Place’ at the Silicon Valley GooglePlex and there were a lot of people in the room.
When the around-the-room introductions reached him, he said “…My name is Sergey, I work on the fringes here at Google.”
Nobody from Google nodded knowingly or acted reverent or surprised, the introduction circle simply moved to me.
In retrospect my introduction as “VP of something-or-other” must have sounded like a balloon losing its air. I guess he should have stood out during our work-session as the only person listening intently with a no-agenda-face and technology-free hands.
It was not until our Google host formally introduced us after that it clicked.
And I am certain everyone around me heard the fuse pop in my head when it all came together… S-e-r-g-e-y — B-r-i-n. Russian-born computer scientist. Internet entrepreneur. Co-founded Google. At the time net worth of $49B — (now $106.1B)
He was polite, saying “I liked your team’s thinking, thanks for sharing.” And quietly walked off.
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I know from my fascination with brain research that there is this thing called flashbulb memory — indelible memories that are created by the brain.
They are vivid.
They are emotionally permanent.
They are not always factually accurate.
I share this because I do not remember the details, but I do know that it was emotionally permanent. And that emotionally permanent memory is that one of the greatest thought leaders of our generation just gave me permission to work on the fringes.
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And while the front-edge of innovation might seem “the playground for others”.
It is not. It’s hard work with a lot of risks. It’s a lot of adding, subtracting, steps forward, walk-backs and finally breakthroughs.
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I am excited each day to start on this hard work as I get to do it together with the team and City Innovations.
Happy Birthday Google.
And thank you Sergey for telling me its ‘ok’ to work on the fringes.
