How Sundar Pichai’s Google observation helped Indian techies build billion-dollar companies: ‘I thought Chrome was a bad idea’ | Today’s news
Arvind Jain, co-founder of billion-dollar companies Rubrik and Glean, shares his experience working alongside current Google CEO Sundar Pichai and how he played a significant role in Jain’s career growth.
In an interview with Fortune, Jain revealed that he was initially hesitant and struggled with self-doubt after relocating from a small town in India to the US. Jain said that joining Google made him feel like an “impostor” because he didn’t graduate from prestigious universities like MIT or Stanford.
Rather than let these feelings discourage him, Jain began to closely observe the people around him to understand what helped some employees succeed more than others.
One person he paid close attention to was Sundar Pichai, who recently joined Google as a product manager.
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“We were together at Google for a long time. I knew him from when he joined as an individual contributor,” Jain told Fortune exclusively.
“At Google, we had people who were great, came from the best schools, were high achievers, and some grew up and shined, and then there were others who didn’t,” he said. “I thought I was lucky to somehow fit into this group of amazing people… And so I tried to learn and observe what makes a person successful?”
What impressed Jain on Pichai?
According to Jain, Pichai has consistently stood out due to his determination, strong work ethic and belief in ambitious ideas.
“What I learned from watching him was that the same qualities came up all the time – intensity, hard work. But also the ability to think big and have confidence,” Jain revealed. “You have to think crazy.
Jain said that was clear when Pichai strongly supported the development of Google Chrome at a time when many believed the project had little chance of success.
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At the time, Microsoft dominated the browser market, Netscape had already failed, and even a few Googlers were questioning the point of launching another browser.
“It seemed like a bad idea,” he admitted. “I didn’t mean big enough.
Even then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer publicly dismissed Chrome as a “rounding error”.
However, Chrome has become the most widely used web browser in the world. By 2012, it had overtaken its competitors, bolstering Pichai’s reputation at Google and helping pave the way for his appointment as Google CEO in 2015.
“You have to say: we’re going to do what everyone thinks is stupid, maybe unrealistic,” Jain told Fortune.
Jain believes this willingness to pursue bold ideas was a quality shared by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
“They had no limitations in their minds about what was possible,” Jain added.
“So I think those were the two main things I learned: work hard, but then ignore normalcy and think regularly about limitations.”
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What did Jain do after leaving Google?
After leaving Google, Jain applied these lessons to building his own businesses.
He co-founded Rubrik, a cloud data management company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2024 at a valuation of about $5.6 billion. He later founded Glean, an artificial intelligence company that helps employees find and understand information across organizations.
Glean is now valued at $7.2 billion.
Who are Jains learning from today?
Despite running successful companies, Jain says he still looks for opportunities to learn from others. This time, he believes his youngest employees offer some of the most valuable lessons.
“I actually feel like I learn the most from the youngest people,” Fortune said. “They’re the ones who haven’t seen the things I’ve seen. They have new perspectives.”
