Larry Page and Sergey Brin co-founded Google while studying for  their PhDs at Stanford in 1996 and incorporated on September 4 1998 and soon raised nearly $1.1 million including a $100,000 check from one of Sun Microsystem's founders. The original search engine was nicknamed "Backrub" due to its algorithm that checked backlinks to determine relevancy and importance of webpages. The image to the right is their first iteration of Google's production servers built with inexpensive hardware.

Larry recently gave a graduation commencement speech at the University of Michigan where he attended undergrad. Apparently, the initial idea of Google came in the middle of the night when he amibitiously dreamed about downloading the entire web. Here is a piece of his inspiring speech with the video below. You can find the whole transcription of Larry's speech here.

You know what it's like to wake up in the middle of the night with a vivid dream? And you know how, if you don't have a pencil and pad by the bed to write it down, it will be completely gone the next morning?

Well, I had one of those dreams when I was 23. When I suddenly woke up, I was thinking: what if we could download the whole web, and just keep the links and... I grabbed a pen and started writing! Sometimes it is important to wake up and stop dreaming. I spent the middle of that night scribbling out the details and convincing myself it would work. Soon after, I told my advisor, Terry Winograd, it would take a couple of weeks to download the web -- he nodded knowingly, fully aware it would take much longer but wise enough to not tell me. The optimism of youth is often underrated! Amazingly, I had no thought of building a search engine. The idea wasn't even on the radar. But, much later we happened upon a better way of ranking webpages to make a really great search engine, and Google was born. When a really great dream shows up, grab it!

When I was here at Michigan, I had actually been taught how to make dreams real! I know it sounds funny, but that is what I learned in a summer camp converted into a training program called Leadershape. Their slogan is to have a "healthy disregard for the impossible". That program encouraged me to pursue a crazy idea at the time: I wanted to build a personal rapid transit system on campus to replace the buses. It was a futuristic way of solving our transportation problem. I still think a lot about transportation -- you never loose a dream, it just incubates as a hobby. Many things that people labor hard to do now, like cooking, cleaning, and driving will require much less human time in the future. That is, if we "have a healthy disregard for the impossible" and actually build new solutions.

I think it is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. I know that sounds completely nuts. But, since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition. There are so few people this crazy that I feel like I know them all by first name. They all travel as if they are pack dogs and stick to each other like glue. The best people want to work the big challenges. That is what happened with Google. Our mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. How can that not get you excited? But we almost didn't start Google because my co-founder Sergey and I were too worried about dropping out of our Ph.D. program. You are probably on the right track if you feel like a sidewalk worm during a rainstorm! That is about how we felt after we maxed out three credit cards buying hard disks off the back of a truck. That was the first hardware for Google. Parents and friends: more credit cards always help. What is the one sentence summary of how you change the world? Always work hard on something uncomfortably exciting!

As a Ph.D. student, I actually had three projects I wanted to work on. Thank goodness my advisor said, "why don't you work on the web for a while". He gave me some seriously good advice because the web was really growing with people and activity, even in 1995! Technology and especially the internet can really help you be lazy. Lazy? What I mean is a group of three people can write software that millions can use and enjoy. Can three people answer the phone a million times a day? Find the leverage in the world, so you can be more lazy!

Overall, I know it seems like the world is crumbling out there, but it is actually a great time in your life to get a little crazy, follow your curiosity, and be ambitious about it. Don't give up on your dreams. The world needs you all!

Cloud computing continues to gain popularity because it enables companies to build, launch, and adopt software quicker and easier while saving money. For example, it has enabled Acquia to build a hosting business for Drupal websites by building hosting services off of Amazon's EC2. Another example is Google's App Engine that enables hackers to build apps in the cloud using Google's infrastructure. According to the Pew Research Center, "some 69% of online Americans use webmail services, store data online, or use software programs such as word processing applications whose functionality is located on the web."

The trend continues to spur entrepreneurs to build companies and applications through outsourcing infrastructure to the cloud. While this marks one side, entrepreneurs on the other side are building applications to help companies manage this infrastructure. CloudKick is one of the.

CloudKick is a startup out of Y Combinator that provides cloud hosting management. The company, founded by recent Oregon State University grads, has grown from managing 350 servers for 40 Y Combinator startups to currently managing over 10,000. Their software is built off of Amazon's API and enables a company to manage all of their servers or instances from one control panel. Essentially, giving an end user one view of their infrastructure.

Within the control panel, you can visualize bandwidth usage, load averages, and free memory to ensure your infrastructure is running at peak efficiency. Likewise, monitoring provides dead simple set up by selecting check boxes for what services you want to watch with alert services through email. One of their new services enables migration between Amazon EC2 and Slicehost. As they add more services, you'll be able to more easily migrate to less expensive options.

TechCrunchIT explains why this is significant in more detail:

Cloudkick is part of the birth of cross-cloud applications and management tools. As technology companies roll out their cloud platforms and businesses begin to become increasingly reliant on the cloud, these management tools will become even more useful, especially when the service is free and it lets you optimize your investment in the cloud by easily switching to a less expensive provider. There’s is definitely positive results from deploying interoperability between cloud servers. Having more than one alternative cloud service will create competition between Amazon, Rackpsace and other server providers which will probably drive down costs for customers.

Here is some interesting background on cloud computing from the Pew Research Center:

Years ago, computing was largely centralized. Users accessed information on mainframe computers from terminals that had very little computing power. With the advent of the personal computer in the 1980s, processing power came to the individual's desktop with basic applications such as spreadsheets and word processing. Although some of these machines, such as those in large organizations, might have been networked through a mainframe, a good bit of data transfer took place on foot, as people carried floppy disks from computer to computer.

As internet adoption became mainstream in the 1990s, the network of networks increased the power of decentralized computing. Personal computers not only stored data locally, but could also download and exchange data found far and wide on the world wide web. The growth in broadband access to the desktop at home and work has been a force multiplier to this model of computing.

Recent evolutions in information technology have led to a more distributed computing environment, while also reviving the utility of centralized storage. The growth in high-speed data lines, the falling cost of storage, the advent of wireless high-speed networks, the proliferation of handheld devices that can access the web - together, these factors mean that users now can store data on a server that likely resides in a remote data center. Users can then access the data from their own computer, someone else's desktop computer, a laptop that wirelessly connects to the internet, or a handheld device.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a new form of concrete that is able to heal itself when it cracks. Surprisingly, no human intervention is required, just water and CO2. The self-healing concrete works by enabling the infrastructure to form microcracks instead of larger ones that cause failure from strain on the system. The result is more durable concrete that may be able to save buildings from earthquakes around the world.

“It’s like if you get a small cut on your hand, your body can heal itself. But if you have a large wound, your body needs help. You might need stitches. We’ve created a material with such tiny crack widths that it takes care of the healing by itself. Even if you overload it, the cracks stay small,” said Victor Li, the E. Benjamin Wylie Collegiate Professor of Civil Engineering and a professor of Materials Science and Engineering.

“We found, to our happy surprise, that when we load it again after it heals, it behaves just like new, with practically the same stiffness and strength,” Li said. “Self-healing of crack damage recovers any stiffness lost when the material was damaged and returns it to its pristine state. The material can be damaged and still remain safe to load.”

This is a perfect example of a technology developed in a university lab that provides entrepreneurs an opportunity to commercialize and develop into new a product. It seems there is a direct correlation between engineering and technology level at schools and the type of startups that emerge. Technology enables society to create higher degrees of leverage between man and machine. Thus, enabling entrepreneurs to create products that provide enhanced value that pushes civilization forward.

I think this may be one of the reasons why entrepreneurs from MIT are so successful. They are simply exposed to more technologies and ideas that they can use to build companies. Most startups from undergrad are student-centric. As entrepreneurship in school continues to expand, there should be increased efforts to introduce the right students to the right technologies. I'm sure there's many technologies sitting on the shelf waiting to be commercialized. In fact, technology is advancing so fast that humans are having trouble applying them to society - it's one of the reasons why Singularity University was formed .

Hopefully, the rise of student-managed venture funds and business plan competitions will help make the bridge.

Investment Banking used to be the hot job to land out of school. Now its starting a company or landing a position at a startup.

Maybe its due to my network, but I rarely come across anyone interested in joining the corporate world. On the same token, I rarely come across people who genuinely enjoys the corporate world. Students are quickly realizing that the startup world holds more opportunity. The reasons are obvious; you can build wealth quicker, develop a broader range of business skills, work with the smartest business and entrepreneur minds you can find, and learn how to build and scale a company. By working with a small team, you have access to all departments, enabling you to contribute ideas, provide feedback, and pitch proposals that may actually be implemented. As you can imagine, your simultaneously learning a broad range of disciplines that provide for more flexible career growth.

I predict that the pursuit of "glamorous" corporate jobs such as investment banking will shift towards hunting positions at startups out of school. However, startups usually look for individuals who already have entrepreneurial experience - making it difficult for someone who hasn't tried starting a company while in school. On the other hand, internships provide a perfect opportunity to prove skills, ambition, and "self starting" characteristics. Eitherway, if you land a startup internship, I guarantee you that you'll have invaluable experience to begin developing a unique set of skills.

If you're a student with a PHP/Web development background or interested in marketing (description not listed here, but get in contact with me if you're interested), then I invite you to check out the following internship opportunity at Acquia:

Job Description: LAMP Developer

As member of our engineering team, you will help design, develop and debug and test features and solutions for the open-source Drupal project, a PHP-based content management system (see drupal.org) as well as one or more of Acquia's Drupal projects including http://acquia.com, the Acquia Network, Acquia Fields (Drupal Hosting) and Acquia Gardens (Drupal as a Service).   You will participate as a full-team member in our agile (scrum-based) development process and work with our Jira-based work tracking system, SVN source control and automated testing tools (selenium). 

Educational Requirements

Pursuing a BS in Computer Science

Job Requirements:

Requirements

• Proficient in a LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) based architecture
• Proficient in XHTML, CSS, SQL, XML
• Strong PHP programming skills
• Understanding of fundamental Internet Protocols (DNS, HTTP, SSH, SMTP, FTP)
• Excellent analytical and debugging skills
• Experience with source code management systems such as CVS or SVN
• Cross-browser/platform experience
• Excellent verbal and written English communication skills

Pluses

• Contributing to open-source projects
• Java, JavaScript or JQuery
• Object-oriented design and programming
• Software qualty assurance
• Experience extending content management and blogging systems such as Drupal, Joomla, Wordpress etc.

Shoot me an email and I can forward your contact information to Human Resources. If you're looking to post an internship for your startup, then you should get in touch with me as well. My goal is provide resources, tips, and news pertinent for first time entrepreneurs or anyone interested in startups.

Unsure to whether you want to join a startup? Here are 3 questions to ask before joining a startup out of school.

A quick heads up. Tonight is the deadline to apply for the fbFund, which supports developers and entrepreneurs building on the Facebook Platform. The fund totals $10 million and provides funding, mentoring, and marketing.

Here is some more info on the program:

This year our new fbFund 2009 Incubator program will enable a few lucky startups using Facebook and Facebook Connect to receive up to $100,000 in investment and a "golden ticket" to come to Palo Alto for the summer. Here in Silicon Valley, we'll work together with Facebook and other tech companies and experienced mentors to help build new apps, websites, and businesses that show off the best of social apps and platforms. Initially we'll name 50 finalists from those who apply for the program, who will receive $1,000 in Facebook advertising. From the 50 finalists, we'll then select a smaller group to receive funding and participate in the incubator program (mid June - late August). The program will feature regular weekly tech talks and education on Facebook platform, Facebook Connect, technical infrastructure, product design, startup metrics and optimization, SEO, internet marketing, startup funding and hiring, and a variety of other topics of interest.

For other similar opportunities, you should check out our Directory of Incubators and Seed Funding Venture Programs.

It's always interesting to come across a startup or entrepreneur who's in stealth mode and refuses to discuss their idea and company. For most startups, stealth mode means the company doesn't have proprietary technology and that their idea can easily be replicated. Founders of these startups often believe that they have to keep an idea under wraps because they think they have an idea that no one on this planet has thought of and doesn't want anyone stealing. In reality, ideas are cheap and someone probably has the same one.

I'm not really concerned about whether a company is in "stealth" mode or not. My bigger concern is whether "stealth" mode is preventing the team from seeking advice. In the cases that I've come across, it usually is.

Advice and feedback is critical for a startup and should be continually sought after as much as possible - no matter what stage a company is in. The likelihood of someone you tell taking your idea and running with it is insignificantly small. If they do, their probably not as passionate for the idea as you are and inherently decreases their chance of success. The reasons for seeking advice are fairly obvious, so I won't go into them now. But, would like to point you to a new startup that aims at helping entrepreneurs gather feedback.

ChubbyBrain is a startup database of companies that have received some sort of funding , whether it be seed money from a business plan competition or venture capital. Their goal is to enable startups to gather feedback, insight, and analysis of their startups from other entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, or industry professionals. Likewise, its another way to network with like-minded people, get your idea infront of potential investors, and increase  your SEO ranking. It's almost like crowdsourced feedback.

They have some high profile members who've joined their review team. For example, Satya P., a Principal at Battery Ventures recently joined as an "Expert Reviewer."

They've been speaking with a handful of universities and expanding in similar spaces, so we're also excited to announce a partnership. We hope to potentially co-host some competitions like we did with Vator.tv (another place where you should create a company profile.) If you have some partnership ideas...why haven't you reached out yet? Contact me

Wiggio, a startup out of Cornell University that provides group collaboration software for college students, recently surpassed 100,000 users. Since their January Beta launch, they've been seeing 1,000 users sign up daily and have now spread to 500 colleges. Congratulations for reaching the milestone!

In their recent update, Dana Lampert (founder who started the company his senior year) explained that the next challenge will be to "sustain and accelerate this growth over the summer by starting to push exposure in some of our secondary markets, including non-profit organizations, youth sports leagues, K-12 schools, boy/girl scouts, religious groups, and small businesses."

They're now integrated with Facebook with their new app, Wiggio Boards. Here is a description that they put out:

In this app, you can create a Wiggio Board on Facebook, invite people from your Facebook network into this private group, and take advantage of some very powerful group communication tools. In short, you can post a message to your group from Facebook, from Wiggio, or by sending an email or text message into your group’s address. Each member can set how they’d like to receive these messages (by email, text message or a daily summary email). For example, I have a Wiggio Board for my family. I’m out on a Sunday afternoon and I text message into my family’s Wiggio Board to see when they want to meet. My message then goes to each person’s cell phone – my brother replies to the text message, and his reply gets redistributed back out to the whole group. All the while, this mobile discussion is being archived as a threaded conversation on Wiggio.

In the future, they aim to add video conferencing and instant messaging. Then you could really do group meetings in bed without leaving the dorm.

If you have some dough, they're looking for their second round of financing.

On May 5th, I'll be hosting the first meeting for the Boston chapter of Ultra Light Startups, a group of entrepreneurs and like-mind individuals who meet monthly to discuss trends, ideas, and models that help startups launch quicker and cheaper. The event will bring together a panel consisting of founders who've started some of today's most disruptive crowdsourced startups, an open source expert, and a venture capitalist to discuss crowdsourcing business.

This meetup is in collaboration with the BU Executive MBA progra. Here is some event info:

Where: Boston University
Address: TBD
When: May 5th, 2009
Time: 6:30PM - 9:00PM

Companies:

Local Motors is working on a unique manufacturing system that will design, manufacture, and bring to market innovative, safer, more functional, lightweight, efficient cars through a revolutionary, local assembly and retail experience. They're able to get to a stage in production that usually costs a company like General Motors hundreds of millions of dollars for under $100k.

uTest crowdsources on demand software, application, and quality assurance testing through an international community of professional software engineers.

Acquia provides commercial support for open source Drupal, a leading web Content Management System.

Venture Capitalist: TBD

Panelists:

Doron Reuveni, Co-Founder of uTest [Crowdsourced Software/Application Testing]

Jay Rogers, Co-Founder of Local Motors [Crowdsourced Car Design]

Jay Batson, Co-Founder of Acquia [Open Source Drupal]

Venture Capitalist: TBD

I interviewed Doron earlier about his thoughts on crowdsourcing and how the model will shape the future of business. We'll be discussing many of these ideas and how crowdsourcing can help startups and businesses save money, operate ultra light operations, get products to market quicker, utilize the wisdom of the crowd, decentralize intelligence, overall benefits of crowdsourced models, and how crowdsourcing continues to be a disruptive business model. Our post on Local Motors shows how crowdsourcing can save millions of dollars in the auto manufacturing industry.

Room is limited, so please use the following link to RSVP.

Registration: http://ultralightstartupscrowdsourcing.eventbrite.com/

If you're in Canada and have a startup that hasn't received any significant amount of funding, then you should check out the New Ventures BC Competition. The competition has been running since 2003 and includes $300,000 worth of prizes. Below is some info if you're interested. I found the opportunity on StartupNorth.

Like most competitions, they'll be opportunities to meet mentors, attend seminars, pitch to venture capitalists, and network with legal, marketing, and business professionals. There will also be plenty of opportunities to refine your business plan to increase your chances for additional rounds of financing.

There are four rounds of "increasing complexity and commitment" and sounds like a serious competition with a $100 entrance fee. Here is some more information:

Competition Deadline: April 20th

The new 2009 prize structure includes:

$120,000 British Columbia Innovation Council First-prize package
$63,000 British Columbia Innovation Council Second-prize package
$37,000 British Columbia Innovation Council Third-prize package
BC Hydro Sustainability $40,000 prize
BC Bioenergy Network $20,000 prize
British Columbia Innovation Council Economic Impact $20,000 prize

For details and to register for the competition, visit http://www.newventuresbc.com or call 604-725-5740.

For other sources of funding, check out our Directory of Incubators & Seed Funding Venture Programs.