Book · 2021 · Biography & Autobiography
In the Plex
How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives
- mentions
- 6
- people
- 4
- podcasts
- 3
- episodes
- 5
- recommendation
- 1
This is like a small little passage in Steven Levy's great book that's been a source for all of our Google episodes, In the Plex.
What they say about it
- Used as a research source“great book that's been a source”2
The best things said about it
Steven Levy writes in In the Plex that the perception of Google's ventures beyond search at the time was that the company was tossing balls into the air like a drunken juggler.
There's another great story from In the Plex that Steven Levy has.
So supposedly this is according to In the Plex, Steven Levy's book, great book that we used as a source for the episode.
The yellow, according to Steven Levy's tell all book about Google, refers to, and I promise this is not a joke, the color of a tank top that a former VP of engineering called Wayne Rosling used to wear.
I read that you looked up to Larry Page and Sergey Brin and that you can recite passages from In the Plex and, like, that book was very influential to you and how Google works was influential.
Lex Fridman Lex Fridman Podcast · Jun 2024 Where and when it comes up
Most mentions, by podcast
4 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
In the Plex by Steven Levy is a comprehensive, behind-the-scenes account of Google's origins, corporate culture, and meteoric rise to technological dominance. The book served as a primary source for extensive deep-dive episodes on the Acquired podcast. Ben Gilbert recommended and cited the book on Acquired to reference a minor passage about an early conversation regarding data compression and language models, as well as to detail Google's early meetings with venture capitalists like Vinod Khosla. David Rosenthal also referenced Levy's work on Acquired, using it to illustrate Wall Street's skeptical perception of Google's early ventures beyond search—comparing the company to a drunken juggler—and to share an entertaining anecdote about Bill Gates's reaction to Gmail's massive storage capacity. Beyond Acquired, Ed Zitron cited Steven Levy's tell-all book on Behind the Bastards to explain the literal origin of Google's peculiar 'code yellow' terminology, which traced back to a tank top worn by a former vice president of engineering. On the Lex Fridman Podcast, Lex Fridman brought up the book while interviewing Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, noting that Srinivas could recite passages from it and had been deeply inspired by how Google operated during its formative years.
Every mention
Ben Gilbert This is like a small little passage in Steven Levy's great book that's been a source for all of our Google… 2
“This is like a small little passage in Steven Levy's great book that's been a source for all of our Google episodes, In the Plex.”
“So supposedly this is according to In the Plex, Steven Levy's book, great book that we used as a source for the episode. They end up getting a meeting with Venode Kosla”
David Rosenthal Steven Levy writes in in the Plex that the perception of Google's ventures beyond search at the time was th… 2
“Steven Levy writes in in the Plex that the perception of Google's ventures beyond search at the time was that the company was tossing balls into the air like a drunken juggler.”
“There's another great story from In the Plex that Steven Levy has. He's interviewing Bill Gates at the Newsweek headquarters office in New York shortly after Gmail comes out...”
Ed Zitron The yellow, according to Steven Levy's tell all book about Google, refers to, and I promise this is not a j… 1
“The yellow, according to Steven Levy's tell all book about Google, refers to, and I promise this is not a joke, the color of a tank top that a former VP of engineering called Wayne Rosling used to wear”
Lex Fridman I read that you looked up to Larry Page and Sergey Brin and that you can recite passages from 'In the Plex'… 1
“I read that you looked up to Larry Page and Sergey Brin and that you can recite passages from 'In the Plex' and, like, that book was very influential to you and how Google works was influential.”
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives, by Steven Levy (2011).”