Taking a chance - 02/05/2007 - 1:00 PM:
On February 11th, 2007 I'm getting on a plane to fly to Mountain View, California, headquarters of Google, Inc. Once there, I'm going to try to pitch an idea to them that I think fits right in with the Google spirit and business model; catch is, I don't have an appointment, they don't know I'm coming, and I'm literally going to be showing up at their door and hoping they give me a meeting.
And if they don't give me one? Then I'm going to sit in their lobby like a spoiled child in hopes that they'll change their mind. :) Every once in a while you have to give an idea a shot, or you spend your entire life passing up ideas that seem just beyond your reach.
Best,
Aaron...
I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane - 02/11/2007 - 8:00 AM:
I spent the last few days preparing my presentation on the assumption that I need something to say when I do manage to sit down and talk with someone. Now, the hours of building a Flash presentation are behind me, and I'm getting on the plane to California in about three hours. The presentation is going with me in many back-up forms; I've got versions that work on Mac, Windows, and Linux on CD, flash drive, my laptop, and uploaded to the Internet. I figure that if you're going to show up at someone's front door, you might as well come prepared. Anything less would just be rude. I've got the camera with me, so I'll try to make a video update once I'm down there....
Arrived in Cali (Day 1) - 02/12/2007 - 9:00 AM:
So, I'm here. I'm staying with a friend's brother, Kit, in San Francisco, about 40 minutes outside of Mountain View. It's about 9:00 a.m. and I'm about to get in the car and drive to the Googleplex. I'll see if I can get a video post up tonight, depending on how things go, but until then, here's me in San Fran.:
It's getting late, though, so I've got to run. Wish me luck....
Roadblock #1 - 02/12/2007 - 9:00 PM:
I figured one of two things would happen at the Googleplex this morning. 1.) The process would be easy, I'd set up a meeting, and come back in a few days to make my pitch. 2.) They'd turn me away at the door. Unfortunately, they did the second one. You can't talk to anyone at Google about setting up a meeting, not in person; you have to submit your business idea via a form on their website. Here's the thing, though: their web form expresses less interest in knowing about you and your idea than the one Jack-in-the-Box uses to ask you how much you like their hamburgers. I wish I could say I was joking, but I kid you not. Look at this:
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First thing's first - 02/13/2007 - 8:53 AM:
First things first, a good portion of my morning is going to finishing the second video. Hopefully that will be done by noon. Then I have some other plans to see what we can do. :) There have been some minor successes to offset yesterday's rejection, but I'll tell you about those after the video! See ya soon....
The Video of the Slow - 02/13/2007 - 4:30 PM:
The video finally got done (four hours later than intended) after some computer issues - my laptop is a lot slower than my desktop back home. But, now the video is uploaded to Google Video and in processing, so it should be here on the site in an hour or two.
So I promised some good news, right? Well, since this morning this site has been taking off, and it seems to be getting noticed by the right people. About 600 people have arrived at this site in the last few hours from somewhere inside of the Googleplex at Mountain View, CA. So hello, Google friends. Welcome to the site. You have no idea how much I appreciate your taking the time to glance at this, and I hope you realize that I come in peace.
As I mention in the video back when there was only one person that had visited from the Googleplex, I came home yesterday and submitted a flash version of the presentation (with audio) to the biz. proposal form, but as of right no...
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Nearly Success!! Big Progress!! - 02/14/2007 - 1:37 AM:
I stayed up late battling a computer that couldn't figure out how to render a video file like it's supposed to. I was tired and frustrated. I was worrying that maybe I was just pissing people off inside of Google, and not accomplishing anything.
...And then I finally finished the video, got it uploaded (almost two days later than I meant to - you'll understand when you see the video), and checked my e-mail one last time before crashing. The short of it? Looks like I'm going to get a chance to be heard out. I just got an e-mail from Google with the heading, "We can hear you :)"
There's no official time or details yet, but it looks like I've got someone to talk to, now. This makes me happy. More than anything - more than worrying that ...
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True Success! - 02/14/2007 - 12:00 PM:
I've got a meeting. In the video I say that it's at 2:30, but it was moved back to 4:30 following that. Who knows if they'll like the idea, but Google has stepped forward and done what I asked them to: take a chance, and hear out someone they could have easily ignored. But I don't have time to chat. I've got things to do. :)...
I'm Exhausted, But I Think Things Are Moving Forward - 02/14/2007 - 10:14 PM:
I had to talk fast, but I got my meeting. We were short on time, which means I flew through the presentation way faster than I'd originally planned, but I think that was alright. David (the fellow I presented to) was extremely sharp, and picked up on what I was saying even when it was coming at him fast. He referred to what I said as "very intriguing", asked the right questions to indicate that he got it, and asked for more materials so that he could put the idea in front of the right people. I'm sure at some point everyone that sees this page wonders if the idea is really worth it - I mean, it was possible I'd walk in, present my idea, and it'd turn out to be something that Google hears five times a day. My meeting with David seemed to suggest that I laid that fear to rest, thankfully. My only concern is that we covered so many details so quickly that there were a lot of elements I could have addressed that I didn't. But the basic question, do I feel like I was heard out? Yes. It mig...
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Thanks for the Support, Everyone - 02/15/2007 - 7:30 AM:
Look at that; you sleep for six hours and people go and decide to cheer you on. :) I woke up this morning to an outpouring of e-mails from people wishing me luck, and it's just... well, it's amazing is what it is. So, I just had to mention that before I got to work this morning. Every e-mail I get is appreciated, trust me. I've had a few people worry that I'd stop updating the blog before we had a conclusion, but don't worry, I'll keep you updated until I have a firm end; if I send in my summary, it gets heard, and they say no, I'll tell you about it. If they say anything else, well, I'll certainly tell you about that, too. You'll be the first to know... well, after a number of key people I call first on my cell (I woke my parents up at 1:30 a.m. when I originally got confirmation of the meeting).
The other great mystery that seems to be plaguing people is: What is the idea? Hmmm... I'm convinced that half of you are paying attention because it's like the next episode o...
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A Little Update - 02/15/2007 - 1:50 PM:
The summary is done and in the process of being edited, so I've got just a second to break away from the work - I've been getting so many e-mails that I can't not post something about it. Since about 5:00 this morning, I've been getting e-mails from people wishing me luck at a rate about about 1 every minute and a half. :) It's simply fantastic. I've never experienced this level of support before, and I tell you... well... thank you. There's no way to describe how much that understates my sentiments, but there you go.
Now, back to work. I'm an hour behind where I wanted to be as is....
Proposal Summary Is Sent, Will Be Looked At Tomorrow - 02/15/2007 - 6:22 PM:
It's been a crazy last few hours. The proposal is in, and I've got confirmation that it'll be put in front of the right people tomorrow, and we'll work it out from there. There's been so much interest in the site lately that I'm almost embarrassed to say that it's too early for more news; the site was picked up on Digg and has had some server troubles from the influx of traffic. I'm now getting good luck e-mails at a rate of about 10 a minute, you crazy people. Just so you know, I sat down after sending off the proposal and read every single one of them, but responded to few, yet. I'll try to, in the next few days, but between responding to the e-mails, getting together another video post, and doing anything and everything that Google needs me to... well, it might be a little bit. Google has first priority, obviously. You might be interested to know that the site was covered in a TV news segment, and I've been asked to do some radio interviews when it's all over. So just wait, sooooon...
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Added Forums - 02/15/2007 - 9:56 PM:
I've gotten a lot of e-mails about this, and I think it's a good idea: I've put in some CanGoogleHearMe Forums. Seriously, everyone that's wished me luck should know each other, because there's some real networking going on in the background here. If nothing else, I'm meeting interesting people. I didn't have time to set up an on-server script, so... sorry, I had to go third party, which means it has some advertising that I can't control and some color schemes which... well.... Anyway, give me shout there, too. More importantly, give each other a shout.
Note: Originally, I'd set up some crappy third-party forums which you can still find here. But in about an hour, the community wouldn't have that and provided a new one (thanks Paulius). It looks good. Heck, it looks great....
E-mails Are Keeping Me Awake! - 02/16/2007 - 5:25 AM:
I've been unable to sleep most of the night because my brain has been very active. Mainly, I've been thinking about the e-mails that people have been sending, until finally I got back up off the couch at 2:30 a.m. or so to film something and post it. Which, of course, means I got back to bed at around 4:00 a.m. It strikes me that there's something pretty amazing in these e-mails, and I couldn't sleep until I had shared some of them. I know you might be more interested in details about Google, but this is worth your time too. This video might not be as well cut as the others, but it's more significant. Don't believe me? Watch the video. You'll agree.
A BOLDED NOTE: Oh, for the love of... grr. This is why you don't do things at three in the morning. There are sp...
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Some Pictures for the Down Time. - 02/16/2007 - 10:30 AM:
It might take a little bit of time for Google to figure out what to do with me, and since I can think of nothing more that I can do to help things in the mean time, I'll throw up some pictures. Then I'll stop posting until we get some more news, because I don't want to flood the blog with too much information. I got a request for a still picture of the stack of e-mails I showed in the video, so here it is. Also, here are two random pictures I took of the Googleplex the last time I was there.
And just so you know, I've read every e-mail in that stack, so feel free to keep them coming. :)
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We Knew This Was Coming, We Were Hoping For It - 02/16/2007 - 5:30 PM:
We all knew that this would reach a point that I'd have to start being hush about what details I could and couldn't talk about if I was being taken seriously; it was unavoidable. And while it's a positive thing, nobody is going to like it, not even me - in a few moments I'm not going to be able to talk about some details anymore. I have to be mum about many of the things you want to know most. I'm not entirely sure if I'll even be able to say if Google did or didn't like the idea, though I suppose my actions that follow will make that fairly evident. In terms of details about my interactions with Google, I will be able to say absolutely nothing at all, but I'll cover everything else. Who knows, maybe I'll introduce you to my girlfriend. :)
I picture it this way. You guys are my hometown, and I've set off for the big city. Everyone has shown up to wish me luck and see me off, pat me on the back and make sure I've got enough food for the trip, but after I leave the city l...
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Something to Share - 02/16/2007 - 6:23 PM:
I got sent this in an e-mail today from Brian, and it's an image he made up for his blog, and I liked it a lot and wanted to share:
Also, apparently I've got a theme song in the works for me. :) These guys here are part of a band that decided to write and record a song based on this blog and my experiences. I haven't heard it yet, but I don't have to - It's my theme song, no questions asked. How cool is that? I'll link to it as soon as I get it in. Joel, I'm eager to hear it.
Plus, about five minutes ago I got a poem from Danny, who is 12 years old and runs his own blog. I figured I had to pass it on, just becaus...
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Our Theme Song - 02/17/2007 - 9:11 AM:
So many things are happening on a minute-by-minute basis that it's hard to pick and choose what to talk about. So we'll start with this: My theme song is done! I got an e-mail from the band called Midnight.Haulkerton when I woke up, and they took it on themselves to write a song inspired by this site. Wish I could understand the words more clearly, because I'm on Cloud 9 about this and you should be, too. They wouldn't have written it, I'm sure, if it were not in part for everyone's enthusiasm for this.
What's also cool to me personally is that I got an e-mail from one of my best friends when I was 9-years old and living in Rolla, MO. His name is Nick, and I haven't seen or heard from him in almost 8 years. So yesterday he sees the site! And he e-mails me! And his little brother says hi, too!
I'll keep this post brief, because there ar...
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New Friends and Paintballing - It's the Weekend, Right? - 02/17/2007 - 10:02 PM:
I spent part of the day wandering around San Francisco, because it's a holiday weekend and not much is going to happen in terms of business until Tuesday. So I decided to take up an invitation for lunch with some new friends, specifically, Robert Scoble, his son Patrick, and Dave Winer (who I met in passing). It was a lot of fun - and Robert bought me a water, which was really nice of him!
We met up at the Apple Store, which has a strong symbolic meaning to me, because I've been an Apple fan since playing Sierra's Gold Rush on my Mac Classic. I recognized the large glass staircase in the center from pictures I've seen of Apple Stores in the past, which alwa...
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A Place For People's Letters - Not Leaving Yet - 02/18/2007 - 2:04 AM:
One of the most important features of the site was added today thanks to Matt and Chris (our unofficial volunteer webmasters). There is now a page where I can post some of the e-mails I've been getting, which I like to refer to as Pages of the Book. I'm not choosing any specific ones, nor any certain dates; every once in a while I'll just post some more. I want people to see what sort of a response I'm getting, and what sort of a community you're joining when you decide to write and add another page to the book, as so many of the e-mails have said. Go ahead and read over the letters, because they're pretty amazing.
My original plan was to leave San Francisco on the 20th. I've officially pushed that back and I'll be here at least another week. The one-week time frame I originally gave myself was not enough to carry this through, and it's just too early to go home. That said, this quest has to have a conclusion...
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How Do We Fix This? How Do We Make This Work? - 02/18/2007 - 10:48 PM:
I've had a great day paintballing, met some new friends, and I'll tell you all about that in the morning. Before I go to bed, though, I wanted to ask for your thoughts. I've started a discussion topic in the forums that I want feedback on.
The question:
"What can be changed to make it easier for the average person with a good idea to really be listened to by these large companies?"
Everyone at some point has a million dollar idea, but there are barriers that keep us from following them through. If Google, or Microsoft, or anyone were to come and ask how the system should be changed, how can it be fixed to allow ideas to move more freely upward from the ground, what would you say? How can a large company effectively deal with thousands of idea submissions and dodge the legal issues that go with it, while at the same time listening to each idea well enough to understand it an...
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