Larry Brilliant recently suspended a self-imposed "quiet period" to talk to Wired Magazine about his plans for Google.org.
It seems like you were meant for this job.
My life only makes sense in retrospect. I was the mascot on the smallpox initiative. I was young and I could speak Hindi and I could type. I stayed there for over 10 years, and I rose to a big lofty title. But I learned epidemiology; I learned public health; I learned developing countries; I learned how to live through floods and catastrophes and famines. I've held hundreds of dead babies in my arms. I've learned how to think when the world is going to hell all around me.
What's your Google.org mandate?
We'll have three big areas: climate crisis, global public heath, and global poverty, not necessarily in that order. I'm going to approach this the way a venture capitalist would map out the industry to see what the gaps are. You fund an initiative, learn what works, and ask, "Will it scale?"
Where’s the money coming from?
One percent of the equity, 1 percent of the profits, and 1 percent of the people go into Google.org. The most important asset isn’t money, it’s people. One percent of the people means 60 or 70 of the smartest people in the world trying to solve some of the biggest problems in the world.
[Excerpt of an article by Evan Ratliff, Wired Magazine]
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