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Hurley ran YouTube like someone who used YouTube and his exit cleared the way for managers to run YouTube Google’s way, with spreadsheets and algorithms.

In under two decades, on-demand lightning-fast internet television had gone from an impossibility to a simple fact of life.

the site’s handicap was that it lacked a clear purpose. Was

Newcomers arrived, posting footage from family vacations, cat clips, and oddities not found on TV. Traffic from MySpace, coupled with the new features for comments and related videos, brought a steady flow to YouTube that would never relent.

YouTube could be a threat to copyright owners but it could also be a very valuable tool for businesses looking for audiences.

a group of young, creative oddballs had started to use the site religiously to build cultural touchstones all on their own.

The Coke analogy was simple. YouTube had outgunned digital video also-rans, like Dailymotion and blip.tv. Its stomach was clearly television,

“next-generation Internet where people contribute as easily as they consume.”

“Look, if you do what they say, and it doesn’t work, they will deny ever having said it,” Gilbert told him. “If you don’t do what they say, and it works, they will take credit for it. Just make sure the damn thing works.”