Google’s Engine for Change
DETROIT _ Amid the lava lamps, bright balloons, exercise balls, massage chairs and free snacks, Grady Burnett somehow manages to get work done.
On the fifth floor of a downtown office in Ann Arbor, Mich., Burnett heads one of the most important new offices for Internet search giant Google Inc.
But this 34-year-old doesn’t get his thrills creating intricate bits of computer code. Rather, he is the guy who walks out of a music store with three totally different CDs: Mozart, the hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest and the heavy metal band Metallica.
And he is the one who last Halloween wore a bright yellow duck costume all day at the office.
“We take Halloween pretty seriously at Google,” he jokes.
All kidding aside, the nearly year-old Google office represents the type of business Michigan hopes to attract in greater numbers to pull out of one of its worst economic slumps ever. Burnett has emerged as the office’s chief representative, speaking to business groups around the state and fostering closer ties with the University of Michigan.
Armed with a Harvard MBA, this former professional tennis player aspires to become an entrepreneur, just like his father.
For now, though, he is getting plenty of valuable business experience. Chief among his tasks: transplanting Google’s legendary Silicon Valley culture to a state more associated with the Model T than the latest Web application.
“It’s a very tough thing to transport,” Burnett said.
Google’s Ann Arbor office employs more than 100 people. That still is a long way from the goal of 1,000, but more are joining every month.
“The Google culture is probably one of the most positive, influential, all-encompassing, productivity-inducing environments the world has ever seen,” said Kevin Ryan, a vice president at SearchEngineWatch.com, an industry newsletter.
The office helps customers buy, create and refine the ads that show up to the right of Google’s search engine results. Called AdWords, the listings are simply four short lines that sell everything from dog food to new cars. They account for the majority of Google’s $10.6 billion in annual revenue.
The son of a Silicon Valley computer entrepreneur, Burnett played many sports as a child. In high school, he grew passionate about tennis and practiced before and after school.
The University of Michigan recruited him to join its tennis team. After graduation, Burnett decided to turn pro, borrowing money from his parents to finance life on the tour.
He played all over the world, from the United Arab Emirates to Malaysia to El Salvador, gaining a valuable global perspective.
After two and a half years, Burnett improved his ranking to No. 850. But it was clear he wasn’t going to become the next Andre Agassi, whom he never got to play.
So he left the tour.
Burnett worked for five years in San Francisco and New York for DoubleClick Inc., a provider of digital marketing technology and services that Google now is in the process of acquiring.
He started off selling technology products but was managing a sales team by the time he left to attend Harvard. After graduating from business school two years ago, he joined Google.
Last year, Google’s top executives asked Burnett if he would establish and lead an office in Ann Arbor. At the time, the University of Michigan history major was working with Google’s advertising agencies and search engine marketing firms and jumped at the opportunity.
“I am not the person that can go and write the code to make our search algorithm better, but I can work with customers to understand their needs,” he said.
Most of Google’s new Michigan employees already lived in the state, but some are newcomers or are returning after a few years away. The company hires a variety of people, from recent college graduates to highly experienced managers.
“The whole organization reinvents itself every so often,” said Lindsay Stradley, an AdWords associate. “It’s still just a fun place to be.”
Google doesn’t set targets for how many people it plans to hire in a certain time. It simply snaps up talented people when it can, with the hiring decisions made by a group of managers.
“We’re a highly collaborative culture,” said Karen Godwin, the office’s online sales and operations manager and a former Kodak executive. “There’s no top-down hierarchy.”
In the long run, Burnett envisions Ann Arbor Googlers selling products other than ads. The office has distinguished itself by improving the training process for AdWords employees worldwide.
Eric Schmidt, Google’s chairman and chief executive, visited earlier this year. Larry Page, Google’s cofounder and a 1995 University of Michigan engineering graduate, played a key role in the decision to select Ann Arbor.
“He’s been happy with the progress” of the office, said Burnett. “He has a tremendous fondness and appreciation for this area.”
Those feelings have been reciprocated. As soon as Google opened a temporary office in Ann Arbor last September, a steady stream of brownies and cookies, flowers, and, of course, resumes began pouring in.
“I want to make sure that I’m growing,” Burnett said when asked about his future. “Work should be fun and it should be something you’re learning from every day.”
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