University Avenue

"FIVE WORDS ON A WHITEBOARD Our one-on-one meetings with Bill were always held at his nondescript office off California Avenue, Palo Alto’s quieter commercial district a mile or so south of the glitzier University Avenue. This felt like a waste of time at first—why couldn’t he come to Google?—but we quickly realized it was the right location. After all, when you go see your therapist, you go see your therapist. When making the pilgrimage to Bill, you’d enter through an unmarked door, go up the stairs to the second floor, down a hallway, give Debbie Brookfield, his longtime assistant, a hug, then go into the conference room to wait for him. For Eric’s meetings, there were always five words written on the whiteboard, indicating the topics to discuss that day. The words might be about a person, a product, an operational issue, or an upcoming meeting. That’s how they organized their talk."

"In Silicon Valley, the IPO of the internet company Netscape Communications in 1995 ignited the internet and initial public offering (IPO) boom. A series of billionaires emerged, and real estate prices soared. However, when we were looking for a store in the early 1990s, it was, in retrospect, just before “the dawn.” There were still many vacant shops along the streets with signs that read “Vacant” and “Tenants Wanted.” “We want a place about the same size or slightly smaller than our current store.” Initially, the two of us had such conversations. Ideally, the location would be not too far from University Avenue in Palo Alto, where our restaurant Sushi-ya is located, so that regular customers could visit."