continuous growth

Sam Schillace is deputy CTO and corporate vice president at Microsoft. Prior to working at Microsoft, Sam started a company called Writely, which was acquired by Google and became the foundation of what today is Google Docs. While at Google, Sam helped lead many of Google’s consumer products, including Gmail, Blogger, PageCreator, Picasa, Reader, Groups, and more recently Maps and Google Automotive Services. Sam was also a principal investor at Google Ventures, has founded six startups, and was the SVP of engineering at Box through their IPO. In this episode, we discuss:

• The journey of building Google Docs

• The importance of taking risks, embracing failure, and finding joy in your work

• The importance of asking “what if” questions vs. “why not”

• Why convenience always wins

• How, and why, Sam stays optimistic

• Inside Microsoft’s culture

• Why you should solve problems without asking for permission

• Early-career advice

• Why “pixels are free” and “bots are docs”

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-be-more-innovative-sam-schillace-microsoft-deputy-cto-creator-of-google-docs/

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Where to find Sam Schillace:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schillace/

• Newsletter: https://sundaylettersfromsam.substack.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Sam’s background

(03:45) The first Google Docs file

(06:45) Disruptive innovation

(10:11) First-principles thinking

(11:00) Recognizing disruptive ideas

(13:17) Examples of first-principles thinking

(15:46) The power of optimism

(19:47) Sam’s motto: Get to the edge of something and f**k around

(21:53) User value and laziness

(24:31) People are lazy (and what to do about it)

(28:36) Building Google Docs

(31:06) The evolution of Google Docs

(37:15) Finding product-market fit

(39:52) The future of documents

(44:57) The value of playing with technology

(47:58) Taking risks and embracing failure

(49:21) Thinking in the future

(53:48) Finding joy in your work

(01:01:20) Just do the best you can

(01:02:34) The transformational power of AI

(01:09:27) Advice for approaching AI

(01:13:07) The culture at Microsoft

(01:16:51) Closing thoughts

(01:17:32) Lightning round

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Referenced:

• Google Docs began as a hacked-together experiment, says creator: https://www.theverge.com/2013/7/3/4484000/sam-schillace-interview-google-docs-creator-box

• Edna Mode: https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Edna_Mode

• Sergey Brin’s profile on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/profile/sergey-brin/

• People Who Were No Smarter Than You: https://medium.com/thrive-global/people-who-were-no-smarter-than-you-4e1c88c3fee6

• Nat Torkington (O’Reilly Media): https://www.oreilly.com/people/nathan-torkington/

• How Tesla Has Shaken (Not Stirred) Established Carmakers—and Why It Really Matters: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferdungs/2021/04/23/how-tesla-has-shaken-not-stirred-established-carmakersand-why-it-really-matters/

• First Principles: Elon Musk on the Power of Thinking for Yourself: https://jamesclear.com/first-principles

• Ashton Tate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashton-Tate

• Learning by Doing: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/learning-doing-sam-schillace

• Kevin Scott on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkevinscott/

• How do we make sense of all of this?: https://sundaylettersfromsam.substack.com/p/how-do-we-make-sense-of-all-of-this

• Steve Newman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevescalyr/

• Eric Schmidt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-schmidt-02158951/

• Michael Arrington on X: https://twitter.com/arrington

• TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/

• “Hello, Computer” scene from Star Trek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hShY6xZWVGE

• Writely—Process Words with your Browser: https://techcrunch.com/2005/08/31/writely-process-words-with-your-browser/

• Satya Nadella on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/satyanadella/

• Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger: https://press.stripe.com/poor-charlies-almanack

• Calvinism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism

• This Quote from Seth Godin Could Change How You Think About Pursuing Your Passion: https://friedchickenandsushi.com/blog/2021/7/5/this-quote-from-seth-godin-could-change-how-you-think-about-pursuing-your-passion

• AI isn’t a feature of your product: https://sundaylettersfromsam.substack.com/p/ai-isnt-a-feature-of-your-product

• Introducing Gemini: our largest and most capable AI model: https://blog.google/technology/ai/google-gemini-ai/

• Invisible Cities: https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Cities-Italo-Calvino/dp/0156453800

• The Wasp Factory: https://www.amazon.com/WASP-FACTORY-NOVEL-Iain-Banks/dp/0684853159

• Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation: https://www.amazon.com/Where-Good-Ideas-Come-Innovation/dp/1594485380/

• Slow Horses on Apple TV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/slow-horses/umc.cmc.2szz3fdt71tl1ulnbp8utgq5o

• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on Apple TV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/monarch-legacy-of-monsters/umc.cmc.62l8x0ixrhyq3yaqa5y8yo7ew?mttn3pid

• Scavengers Reign on Max: https://www.max.com/shows/scavengers-reign/50c8ce6d-088c-42d9-9147-d1b19b1289d4

• 2023 Mustang Mach-E: https://www.ford.com/suvs/mach-e/

• Boccalone Salumeria (now closed) on X: https://twitter.com/boccalone

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Episode 534: Shaan Puri (https://twitter.com/ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (https://twitter.com/theSamParr) answer the question, “How did you get your first 100 customers?” In this episode, they'll share you 11 methods. No more small boy spreadsheets, build your business on the free HubSpot CRM: https://mfmpod.link/hrd — Show Notes: (0:00) Intro (2:00) Throw an event method (6:00) The floor-to-floor method (12:30) Magnet method (14:00) "Made to Stick" method (19:00) The no risk offer (25:00) Viral content (30:00) Use the personal story (35:00) Pissing in the pond (37:00) Booth babes method (44:30) Launchpad method (48:30) The David Blaine method — Links: • The Anti-MBA - https://www.theantimba.com/ • Neville Medhora’s blog on Hustle Con - https://www.nevblog.com/hustlecon-2014/ • Ryan Hoover in Fast Company - http://tinyurl.com/muva968r — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: • Try Shepherd Out - https://www.supportshepherd.com/ • Shaan's Personal Assistant System - http://shaanpuri.com/remoteassistant • Power Writing Course - https://maven.com/generalist/writing • Small Boy Newsletter - https://smallboy.co/ • Daily Newsletter - https://www.shaanpuri.com/ Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/ • Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/ • Copy That - https://copythat.com • Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth Past guests on My First Million include Rob Dyrdek, Hasan Minhaj, Balaji Srinivasan, Jake Paul, Dr. Andrew Huberman, Gary Vee, Lance Armstrong, Sophia Amoruso, Ariel Helwani, Ramit Sethi, Stanley Druckenmiller, Peter Diamandis, Dharmesh Shah, Brian Halligan, Marc Lore, Jason Calacanis, Andrew Wilkinson, Julian Shapiro, Kat Cole, Codie Sanchez, Nader Al-Naji, Steph Smith, Trung Phan, Nick Huber, Anthony Pompliano, Ben Askren, Ramon Van Meer, Brianne Kimmel, Andrew Gazdecki, Scott Belsky, Moiz Ali, Dan Held, Elaine Zelby, Michael Saylor, Ryan Begelman, Jack Butcher, Reed Duchscher, Tai Lopez, Harley Finkelstein, Alexa von Tobel, Noah Kagan, Nick Bare, Greg Isenberg, James Altucher, Randy Hetrick and more. — Other episodes you might enjoy: • #224 Rob Dyrdek - How Tracking Every Second of His Life Took Rob Drydek from 0 to $405M in Exits • #209 Gary Vaynerchuk - Why NFTS Are the Future • #178 Balaji Srinivasan - Balaji on How to Fix the Media, Cloud Cities & Crypto • #169 - How One Man Started 5, Billion Dollar Companies, Dan Gilbert's Empire, & Talking With Warren Buffett • ​​​​#218 - Why You Should Take a Think Week Like Bill Gates • Dave Portnoy vs The World, Extreme Body Monitoring, The Future of Apparel Retail, "How Much is Anthony Pompliano Worth?", and More • How Mr Beast Got 100M Views in Less Than 4 Days, The $25M Chrome Extension, and More

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