Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt: “The great founders are frugal”

I can always tell when we're dealing with a proper founder when we start with, how are they spending their money? And so whenever I go into a startup that has beautiful offices and really nice chairs, I cringe, because that means that they haven't quite figured out that it's not their money, unless it is their money, in which case they can waste it on that. When I joined Google, I was given an office, and I had a little corner of a desk with four other engineers. Eventually, I was given an 8 by 12 office where my desk was literally a door, which I've retained to try to remind myself of what it takes to be successful. So my office today has that door in it. The great founders are frugal. They understand that the money needs to be used precisely for certain areas. Many of the most successful founders begin with no salary at all. I have lots of stories about Larry and Sergey, but let's just say that when I started, one of them was having trouble with his car, so I had to loan him my car because he broke down. That's the kind of stuff we're talking about. So if you're not prepared to live that, you don't really understand what being a founder is like. I mean, for me, you know, I'd love to be a founder. I'd love to have a nice corner office with a beautiful view and lots of secretaries. That's not how it works. Right. And the great founders always started that way.