Rajeev Motwani was a scientist, innovator, and investor who tragically passed away at the age of 47. He founded the Mining Data at Stanford (MIDAS) project, an umbrella organization for several groups that investigated innovative data management concepts. He made fundamental contributions to computer science, search and information retrieval, streaming databases and data mining, and robotics. Motwani was instrumental in the creation of Google as he advised and mentored the founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, through the early stages of the company. He left behind a remarkable legacy in Silicon Valley as he never turned his back on those who sought out his help and expertise, and his network extended to young innovators, entrepreneurs, and potential investors. His death was a huge loss to the tech industry.
Rajeev Motwani was a computer science professor at Stanford University who made a significant impact on millions of people’s lives as an angel investor and mentor to many technology companies in Silicon Valley. He was a product of IIT-Kanpur and the University of California, Berkeley, and his pioneering work in data mining and algorithms at Stanford University helped him earn numerous accolades, including the prestigious Gödel prize in 2001. Professor Motwani’s path-breaking research helped in developing the search engine system that would eventually make Sergey Brin and Larry Page billionaires. As Brin noted in his blog, “Today, whenever you use a piece of technology, there is a good chance a little bit of Rajeev Motwani is behind it.”
Professor Motwani played a vital role in transforming academic ideas into commercial ventures, sitting on the boards of several companies, including Google, Kaboodle, Adchemy, Baynote, Vuclip, Tapulous, and Stanford Student Enterprises. He was also an avid angel investor and helped fund a number of startups to emerge from Stanford. His impact on the technology industry stretched far beyond the confines of Silicon Valley and Google.
He co-authored seminal research papers on the internet alongside Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Stanford academic Terry Winograd on ‘PageRankalgorithm’ and ‘What Can You Do With A Web In Your Pocket’. Additionally, he taught and advised many of Google’s pioneering developers and researchers, including their first employee, Craig Silverstein.
Remembered as an exceptionally brilliant mind, Professor Motwani’s legacy lives on through his contributions to the world of technology. Without his mentorship and guidance, Sergey Brin and Larry Page may not have been able to build Google up to what it is today, the most significant internet search engine in human history. Today, whenever people use technology, they should remember that there is a good chance a little bit of Rajeev Motwani is behind it.
Rajeev Motwani was born on March 24, 1962, in Jammu and grew up in a military household with his father serving in the Indian Army. Despite moving around frequently, he graduated from high school at St Columba’s boys’ school in New Delhi. From an early age, Motwani displayed an appreciation and aptitude for numbers. He was inspired after reading about the legendary 19th-century German mathematician and physicist Carl Friedrich Gauss.
Despite wanting to become a mathematician, Motwani’s family encouraged him to pursue computer science, a subject they saw as more stable and lucrative. Despite his initial hesitation, he enrolled at IIT-Kanpur, where he discovered that computer science contained a high degree of mathematics. He was among the first cohort of undergraduate computer science students at IIT-Kanpur, where he stood out for his intelligence and variety of interests.
Motwani graduated from IIT-Kanpur in 1983 and earned his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, under the supervision of Professor Richard M Karp. He became a professor at Stanford University in 1989, a position that sparked a remarkable journey.
Motwani was an avid reader of science fiction literature, and he enjoyed solving difficult crossword puzzles, playing volleyball and bridge, and partying with his peers. Professor Kesav Nori, who taught Rajeev’s first class on programming, described him as having a clear and direct thinking process, creating the most elegant and brief answers to programming problems.
Motwani’s exceptional work in data mining and algorithms at Stanford University earned him numerous accolades, including the prestigious Gödel prize in 2001. He co-authored seminal research papers on the internet alongside Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Stanford academic Terry Winograd on ‘PageRankalgorithm’ and ‘What Can You Do With A Web In Your Pocket’. He also sat on the boards of several companies, including Google, Kaboodle, Adchemy, Baynote, Vuclip, Tapulous, and Stanford Student Enterprises.
Motwani was not only a computer science professor at Stanford but also an angel investor and mentor to many other technology companies. He helped fund a number of startups that emerged from Stanford and played an active role in the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES). He would go on to teach and advise many of Google’s pioneering developers and researchers, including their first employee, Craig Silverstein.
Although Motwani passed away in 2009, his legacy in the technology industry continues to impact millions of lives. His impact as a mentor, investor, and innovator helped shape the technology industry as we know it today.
Professor Rajeev Motwani was a renowned computer science professor at Stanford University, an angel investor and mentor to many technology companies in Silicon Valley. He founded the Mining Data at Stanford (MIDAS) project, an umbrella organisation for several groups looking into new and innovative data management concepts. Motwani’s research areas included databases, data mining, Web search and information retrieval.
Motwani authored two standout textbooks on theoretical computer science and served on editorial boards of many well-regarded scientific journals. His text book, Randomized Algorithms, with Prabhakar Raghavan, has been a source of inspiration to countless students.
Motwani understood the limitless possibilities of the world wide web and helped start a number of classes and groups at Stanford aimed at investigating how to apply the mathematical principles he had worked on to the online world.
Sergey Brin initially sought out professor Motwani for advice. Despite some initial scepticism about Brin’s idea for a new web search engine in what was considered a “crowded market”, Motwani saw potential for something much bigger. He co-authored several papers that developed their strategy for finding information online, taking on the role of an informal adviser to Google as a result.
According to Bobbie Johnson for The Guardian, “In return for his involvement, Motwani was rewarded with a stake in the company, a relationship that paid off when Google reached the stock market in 2004, making Page and Brin billionaires and reaping great rewards for himself.”
In his blog, Sergey Brin said, “Officially, Rajeev was not my advisor, and yet he played just as big a role in my research, education, and professional development.” Motwani was always ready to help, even though Brin was just one of hundreds of graduate students in the department.
Motwani’s expertise in data mining and algorithms played a crucial role in developing the search engine system that would go on to make Brin and Larry Page billionaires. His path-breaking research in data mining and algorithms helped him earn a string of accolades, including the prestigious Gödel prize in 2001. He co-authored seminal research papers on the internet alongside Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Stanford academic Terry Winograd on ‘PageRankalgorithm’ and ‘What Can You Do With A Web In Your Pocket’.
Motwani was deeply engaged in transforming academic ideas into commercial ventures. He played an active role in the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES). He helped fund a number of startups to emerge from Stanford and sat on the boards of several companies including Google, Kaboodle, Adchemy, Baynote, Vuclip, Tapulous, and Stanford Student Enterprises.
Professor Rajeev Motwani made fundamental contributions to the foundations of computer science, search and information retrieval, streaming databases and data mining, and robotics. His impact as a mentor, investor, and innovator helped shape the technology industry as we know it today.
The Creation of Google and Professor Rajeev Motwani
The creation of Google was a result of the collaboration between Jeff Ulman, Sergey Brin and Rajeev Motwani. They formed the research group MIDAS at Stanford University, where they did a lot of work on data mining. During one of their meetings, Larry Page, who was working on the idea of random walks on the web, showed them what he was doing. Motwani related to what they were doing through randomness, and they created a sub-group inside MIDAS.
The Birth of Google
The search engine created by Page, Backrub, was running as a search engine from Stanford until it got big and was sent off the campus. They then came up with the name Google, which means 10 raised to the power of 100, a name that has now become a part of popular culture.
Professor Rajeev Motwani’s Contributions
Professor Motwani was a wise theoretician with the rare ability to turn theory into practical applications. He was instrumental in the early work that led to Google. He authored two textbooks on theoretical computer science, served on editorial boards of many scientific journals and founded the Mining Data at Stanford (MIDAS) project, an organization for groups researching new and innovative data management concepts.
Legacy and Impact
Professor Motwani did not reach the heights of mainstream popularity that his former students did, but he continued to help young innovators and entrepreneurs. He invested and advised several companies, including PayPal and Sequoia Capital, a leading global venture capital firm.
Conclusion
The birth of Google was a collaborative effort, with Professor Rajeev Motwani playing a significant role in its early development. He was a wise theoretician with a rare ability to turn theory into practical applications, which made him instrumental in the early work that led to Google. His contributions to the tech industry and his investment in young innovators and entrepreneurs left an indelible impact on Silicon Valley.
Professor Rajeev Motwani passed away on June 5, 2009, at the age of 47 due to accidental drowning in his swimming pool. Despite his untimely death, he left a remarkable legacy in Silicon Valley as an intelligent scientist, innovator, and investor. According to one of his friends and a technology investor, Ron Conway, Motwani was one of the smartest people who had ever existed in Silicon Valley. His contribution to the founding of Google cannot be overlooked, as he played an important role in helping Larry Page and Sergey Brin develop their search engine. Apart from that, he authored two standout textbooks on theoretical computer science and served on editorial boards of many well-regarded scientific journals. Despite not reaching mainstream popularity like his former students, Motwani went on to advise and invest in many other companies, including PayPal and Sequoia Capital, a leading global venture capital firm. His exceptional network between innovators, nascent entrepreneurs, and potential investors made him a go-to man in Silicon Valley, even until his tragic demise.
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