Business 2.0

Google's Next Runaway Success


AdWords Select kicks in a network effect for online advertising. Sorry, they told me, Google CEO Eric Schmidt was not talking to the press. Google's PR people want to play it cool, just the way the dotcoms didn't. But, lucky me, there was Schmidt in the doorway between meetings, and it was clear that even this veteran Silicon Valley CEO could not button up his excitement about an eight-month-old advertising program called AdWords Select.

Business 2.0

Who Needs a Pretty Website Anyway?


Knight Ridder Digital CEO Hilary Schneider inherited a business that critics hate and bean counters love. Along with the perks of the job Hilary Schneider accepted in April came one rather dubious distinction. As president and CEO of Knight Ridder Digital, the Internet unit of the second-largest newspaper chain in the country, she was now the boss of 28 of the least admired websites this side of pornography.

Business 2.0

How to Think With Your Gut


How the geniuses behind the Osbournes, the Mini, Federal Express, and Starbucks followed their instincts and reached success. "One day I was home with strep throat, and I saw a rerun of MTV's Cribs that featured the Osbournes' house. They were such a dynamic family. I thought, "They would make great TV.' So I set up a dinner with Sharon Osbourne, the kids, and two MTV executives. We just wanted to watch them interact. Sharon was saying things like 'Remember when Dad was in rehab?' and Kelly and Jack were just so colorful and sarcastic. All of it hit in the gut so strongly. We never tested the show. We just knew it would make great TV." -- Rod Aissa, vice president for talent development and casting at MTV and for MTV's The Osbournes.