Omid Kordestani

Google, Inc.

A Conversation with Omid Kordestani
27 minutes, 12.8mb, recorded 2005-10-05
Omid Kordestani

In 1999 Omid Kordestani became the "first guy with a suit" at Google. Since then it has been his job to lead the company's revenue generation efforts, which makes him a key source for insights into the Google business strategy. In conversation with John Battelle Kordestani considers where Google is going and what business it is really in.

Kordestani discusses the growth potential in Google's core advertising business and the extent to which the company now resembles the Microsoft of the 1990s. Finally, he addresses the issue of how a company of Google's size, hiring more than ten new people every day, can foster rather than crush innovation.


Omid Kordestani is the individual directly responsible for Google's revenue generation efforts and has led an international sales effort that has brought Google to profitability in record time. Kordestani has more than a dozen years of high-technology consumer and enterprise experience, including key positions at Internet pioneer Netscape Communications. As vice president of Business Development and Sales, he increased Netscape's website revenue from an annual run-rate of $88 million to more than $200 million in 18 months. Kordestani joined Netscape as director of OEM Sales, and during his four-year career at that company he was responsible for establishing major customer relationships with Citibank, AOL, Amazon, Intuit, Travelocity, Intel, @Home, eBay, and Excite.

Prior to Netscape, he held positions in marketing, product management, and business development at The 3DO Company, Go Corporation, and Hewlett-Packard. Kordestani received an M.B.A. from Stanford University and a bachelor of science degree in Electrical Engineering from San Jose State University.

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  • Post-production audio engineer: Minh Truong
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  • Series producer: George Hawthorne