Imagine stepping into a seemingly ordinary house on Santa Margarita Avenue in Menlo Park, California, only to feel the presence of ghosts lingering from years past. This was the very garage where Larry Page and Sergey Brin kickstarted Google a decade earlier. Picture the once bustling garage filled with servers and routers, the carpeted rooms where Page, Brin, and Craig Silverstein coded away, and the backyard with a hot tub glistening under the sun.
During Google’s humble beginnings, the house belonged to Dennis Troper and Susan Wojcicki, who had bought it for $615,000. Renting out unused space to the Google duo for $1,700 per month helped cover their mortgage. Wojcicki recalled, “They entered through the garage and weren’t allowed to use the front door.”
Wojcicki’s involvement with Google deepened as she found herself drawn to the startup’s growth. Eventually, she joined the company when they moved out of her house and into an office above a bike shop in Palo Alto. Her journey led her to oversee Google’s advertising arm, which evolved into a multibillion-dollar business revolutionizing the entire industry. Transitioning to become the CEO of YouTube in 2014, she steered the platform through challenges while maintaining a low-key presence, until her departure in February 2023 to focus on family, health, and personal projects, as she mentioned in the company blog.
Despite her powerful position in business, Wojcicki maintained a modest approach, even during her private battle with non-small cell lung cancer. Upon her passing at 56, her colleague Troper shared the news on Facebook.
In a company known for its quirks and ambitious goals, Wojcicki stood out as a calm, analytical force guiding Google towards success. Even before the days of CEO Eric Schmidt, she played a vital role, leveraging her education background and Intel experience to navigate the company through pivotal moments, including the transition towards profitability through advertising.
Wojcicki’s impact on Google’s trajectory was significant, laying the groundwork for its evolution into one of the world’s most influential companies. Her legacy is one of quiet influence and steady leadership in a world of tech giants and groundbreaking innovations.