It may be too soon to equate the Xooglers, as members of the ever-expanding network of ex-Google employees call themselves, with the"PayPal Mafia" -- the founders and early employees of the onlinepayment company who went on to start Yelp, YouTube and LinkedIn.
But they're getting closer.
For years, Googlers, many of them flush with the proceeds of thecompany's successful IPO in 2004, have left the Internet giant tobecome investors or start their own companies. But now, say peoplefamiliar with the growing network, there are Xooglers (a contractionof ex-Googler, pronounced like "Zoogler") at every level of theSilicon Valley startup hierarchy -- angel investors, partners atSand Hill Road venture capital firms, entrepreneur mentorshiporganizations, and Google Ventures, a full-service venture capitaloperation that offers a unique set of resources, including theability to tap into Google's engineer recruiting network.
"The Google network is far and way going to be the most powerfulnetwork and ecosystem. There is an ex-Googler now at pretty muchevery top-tier VC firm, so if you're a Xoogler with a startup, youcan instantly get yourself a meeting at Greylock, at Sequoia, atKleiner Perkins, at Andreessen Horowitz, at Khosla," said formerGoogler David Friedberg, CEO of WeatherBill, a 4-year-old SanFrancisco startup that recently announced $42 million in backingfrom Khosla Ventures and Google Ventures.
Like Friedberg, many Xoogler entrepreneurs think big.
Among those are Dan Siroker, who after quitting the Mountain ViewInternet giant in 2008 to serve as one of presidential candidateBarack Obama's secret tech weapons, is now CEO of Optimizely, a SanFrancisco startup. Siroker founded the company last year with fellowex-Googler Pete Koomen, and the company's software has been used todo everything from boosting fundraising for the Haiti earthquake, tohelping the Democratic National Committee's Facebook applications goviral.
"I just really like to build things," Siroker said. "Going toGoogle, I really wanted to learn the skills that would make me asuccessful entrepreneur on my own."
WeatherBill, whose chief technical officer, Siraj Khaliq, alsocame from Google, aims to build a highly profitable business thatwill also help the world's farmers cope with climate change. Thecompany uses huge data sets to predict weather patterns with enoughaccuracy to market weather insurance that helps farmers lock in areturn on their crops.
Thinking big
The network of former Googlers has yet to spawn a company thesize of Yelp or LinkedIn, although Twitter co-founders Biz Stone andEvan Williams had short stints at Google. Many Xoogler startups --staffed with small teams of a half-dozen or fewer engineers -- areacquired by Google or another company. One example was Facebook'srecent purchase of Beluga, a three-person startup that offers groupmessaging apps for smartphones. But Friedberg said he believes a bigXoogler company is coming.
In its hiring process, and in an internal culture that tends toteach people that "anything is possible," Google tends to createentrepreneurs who aren't daunted by sweeping or complex challenges,Friedberg said.
"I think there is a selection process at Google for people whowant to think big, who are challenged by big problems and want tosolve big solutions," he said.
Attending a recent TED conference in Long Beach, a thoughtconference that lures many Silicon Valley tech executives, Friedbergsaid it often felt like a kind of high school reunion for formerGooglers.
"I know almost all the executives at Facebook, all of themanagement team at AOL -- all of the vice presidents have someGoogle connection," he said. "We all used to work together atGoogle."
There's a reason for that. Two of the most prominent formerGooglers are Tim Armstrong and Sheryl Sandberg, respectively the CEOof AOL and the chief operating officer of Facebook. Others agree thenetwork appears to be broadening and maturing. Last September, agroup of seven ex-Googlers launched AngelPad, a San Franciscomentorship program intended to help Web technology startups.
"I've definitely noticed a rise in Xoogler entrepreneurialactivity driven by the critical mass of Google alumni across thestartup ecosystem -- from founders, to investors and at potentialacquirers," said Hunter Walk, a YouTube executive who has also beenan angel investor in an ex-Googler startup.
"There's a continuum that starts with the entrepreneurs," agreesBill Maris, managing partner of Google Ventures. "You can pick outany point along the chain and see people doing interesting things."
Now in its third year of investing, Google Ventures says it wantsto work with former Google employees -- a touchy issue given thatGoogle is concerned about the perception that it is losingentrepreneurial talent. For companies like WeatherBill, GoogleVentures offers unique resources like Google's powerful network forrecruiting engineers.
Starting from scratch
And for many Xooglers, leaving Google's womb for the vicissitudesof startup life is not easy. If there is a knock against formerGooglers in the eyes of investors, Friedberg said, it is that theydon't appreciate how difficult it is to build an audience fromscratch, having grown used to the attention any new Google productautomatically receives.
Before things started to mesh with Optimizely, Siroker and Koomenhad explored two startup ideas that didn't pan out. One, calledCarrotSticks, is used by 40,000 students to learn math, but did notwork as a business. "We quickly learned an awful lot about how hardit is to start a company, especially an education company," saidKoomen, 29.
Optimizely's software allows any website to simultaneouslypresent different looks to different visitors at random, thenmeasure how user behavior varies for each version. An e-commercewebsite might use Optimizely's software, for example, to present a"Buy Now" button in red, green and blue, and then track which colorproduces the best sales.
That is the essence of what Siroker, 27, did for the Obamacampaign in 2008 -- use data to determine how to get more visitorsto sign up for an e-mail list, donate money or volunteer.
"The product we're building today is the product I wish we'd hadback then," said Siroker, who added that even the early technologyused by the campaign "was a huge driver of donations and revenue forthe campaign."
Contact Mike Swift at 408-271-3648. Follow him at Twitter.com/swiftstories.
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