Brian McClendon: The Story of Google Maps, Pokemon Go & Keyhole - MBM#59
Brian McClendon was one of the earliest investors & later VP of Engineering at Keyhole, which got acquired by Google in 2004. Brian become VP of Engineering and led Google Geo, overlooking the development of Google Earth & Google Maps. He also worked at Uber & is now at Niantic, which you might know for thri most popular app: Pokemon Go
Listen to the podcast on your favourite app
About Brian
Shownotes
Never Lost Again by Bill Kilday (Affiliate Link)
Brian’s University of Kansas course: “Startups Rasing Money”
@Home Network (Wikipedia Page)
Keyhole Inc (History of Google Earth Wikipedia)
I think you can find a link to Google Maps on your own :)
Books & Podcast
3 Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Affiliate Link)
Marketplace podcast
Timestamps
(00:00) - Introduction
(01:16) - Sponsor: OpenCage
(02:42) - Brian describes himself
(03:33) - Getting into computer graphics
(05:15) - From engineer to building companies
(08:06) - The Beginnings of Keyhole
(12:42) - EarthViewer demo
(14:33) - Going through rough times
(21:00) - What made Keyhole so unique
(25:56) - How much of Keyhole's work is still in Google Earth?
(32:08) - Borders are hard
(37:20) - Changing borders
(43:15) - Google's rationale for spending so much on mapping
(45:37) - Use for Google Maps vs Earth
(47:22) - Google Earth Engine
(51:16) - Earliest Google Earth Image
(52:20) - Working at Uber
(57:03) - Self-driving
(58:30) - Project Ground Truth
(01:04:01) - Where is self-driving today?
(01:10:29) - Trains vs Cars
(01:14:15) - Niantic
(01:17:07) - Future predictions
(01:19:28) - Glasses over phones
(01:21:05) - The next iPhone moment
(01:23:33) - Using Tech to get people outside
(01:25:57) - Teaching
(01:28:11) - The need for tech companies outside the Bay Area
(01:30:21) - Remote work
(01:34:59) - Recommendations to students
(01:36:10) - Book/Podcast Recommendations
