When Google went public ten years ago this month, our founders wanted to include a "letter to" in the prospectus, a...

Originally shared by Eric Schmidt

When Google went public ten years ago this month, our founders wanted to include a "letter to" in the prospectus, a sort of “owner’s manual” for people considering investing in the company. The SEC wasn’t crazy about the idea, mostly because it was so unorthodox, but after a bit of back and forth they decided it was ok.

In our book, How Google Works, we talk about how critical it is for companies to think about their culture. To this day, Larry and Sergey’s IPO letter is the single best explanation of Google’s. While some of its details are dated, and we haven’t always been perfect in living up to its high standards, the letter and its values (ex. "Serving end users"; "Long term focus"; "Our employees...are everything") still guide us today. #HowGoogleWorks

https://investor.google.com/corporate/2004/ipo-founders-letter.html