Wired is running an article on how Google came about from its two humble founders.
I especially liked this part:
[Sergey] Brin, the Russian-born son of a NASA scientist and a University of Maryland math professor, emigrated to the US with his family at the age of 6. By the time he was a middle schooler, Brin was a recognized math prodigy. He left high school a year early to go to UM. When he graduated, he immediately enrolled at Stanford, where his talents allowed him to goof off. The weather was so good, he told me, that he loaded up on nonacademic classes – sailing, swimming, scuba diving. He focused his intellectual energies on interesting projects rather than actual course work.
I guess in order to make it in the business world, working hard is no longer enough. It’s so competitive nowadays that it’s also essential to be a prodigy in something to win.