Longtime Google Inc. GOOG +0.31% executive Marissa Mayer's appointment as Yahoo Inc.'s YHOO -0.29% new chief executive fits squarely into a recent pattern: 'Googlers' who were recruited to lead other Internet companies.

In the eyes of some Silicon Valley observers, the Yahoo pick cements Google's reputation as a developer and launching pad for managers in the technology industry, the kind of role General Electric Co. GE +0.66% has played for much of American business.

'Google has worked itself into that same position' as GE, said Marc Andreessen, a Silicon Valley venturecapitalist who sits on the boards of Facebook Inc., FB -0.55% Hewlett-Packard Co., HPQ +0.32% eBay Inc. EBAY +1.22% and other companies.

Mr. Andreessen said Google's 'great track record of innovation,' plus the fact 'there aren't a lot of Internet companies running at scale,' means the Mountain View, Calif., company's executive bench is full of candidates to run consumer-oriented tech companies.

Former Googlers now either head up or help run companies including Twitter Inc., AOL Inc. AOL +0.29% and Facebook Inc. In addition to being an executive training ground, Google is known as a school for entrepreneurs, some of whom have founded start-ups, including mobile photo-sharing app Instagram, which sold to Facebook for $1 billion this year; mobile app start-up Foursquare Labs Inc. and online scrapbooking site Pinterest Inc.

Eric Schmidt, who led Google from 2001 to 2011 and is now its executive chairman, said in a statement that company co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin 'have always aspired for Google to be the kind of company where entrepreneurs really want to work, where you can make ideas happen quickly. And great entrepreneurs often then want to go and run their own thing. It's only natural.' He added that, 'While it is always sad when people move on, it does make us proud that they learned these skills at Google.'

Founded in 1998, Google now has more than 33,000 full-time employees and last year generated more than $39 billion in revenue from playing in areas as diverse as Web search, sophisticated online-advertising tools, its Android mobile operating system and Chrome Web browser. At a market capitalization of around $187 billion, Google is far and away the No. 1 Internet company.

The recruitment of Googlers to high-profile positions gathered steam in 2008, when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally talked Google ad-sales executive Sheryl Sandberg into becoming Facebook's chief operating officer. In 2009, AOL directors snagged Google sales executive Tim Armstrong as CEO.

In 2010, micro-blogging service Twitter picked former Google executive Dick Costolo as CEO. Twitter also was co-founded by a former Googler.

An AOL spokeswoman and a Facebook spokesman didn't reply to requests for comment. Twitter declined to comment.

Some former Googlers have said they have taken what they have learned management-wise from Google to their new jobs. Twitter's Mr. Costolo said in January that about 80 to 90 Twitter employees previously worked at Google, the biggest feeder for the start-up, which has more than 900 employees.

Twitter has a weekly Friday afternoon employee meeting known as Tea Time, similar to Google's longtime TGIF meeting. According to people familiar with the matter, some people at Twitter have started adopting elements of the quirky job-interview process at Google, which asks prospective employees questions like how they would escape from blender.

In a 2010 interview, Mr. Armstrong said he also has tried to apply many valuable lessons learned from working at Google under Mr. Schmidt. Those include keeping in mind how much of Google's success came from a willingness to make bold moves in its early days, as when the company dramatically revamped its AdWords online search advertisingprogramroughly a decade ago, forming what would serve as a key source of revenue, said Mr. Armstrong.

Mr. Schmidt was also gracious with his time, so 'most people walk away feeling like he listened,' Mr. Armstrong added.

Many Googlers are proud of what they consider to be an 'open' company culture, where subordinates fill out reviews of their managers and many employees get to participate in the interview process for new candidates.

Like GE, Google now also has a continuing education program. Last year, about one-third of its employees went through the program, called GoogleEDU, and its product managers have gotten free coaching on how to negotiate for better salaries, among other things.

'I don't think the founders of Google had in their mind that the company would become an academy, but it's a company with so many resources that there's room for mistakes and experimentation,' said Martha Josephson, a Silicon Valley-based partner at executive-search firm Egon Zehnder. 'It's the best education you can imagine.'

AMIR EFRATI

• executive [ig´zekjutiv]   a.行政的 n.行政官   (初中英语单词)
• valley [´væli]   n.谷；河谷；流域   (初中英语单词)
• venture [´ventʃə]   n.投机 v.冒险；敢于   (初中英语单词)
• capitalist [´kæpitəlist]   a.资本主义的n.资本家   (初中英语单词)
• running [´rʌniŋ]   a.奔跑的；流动的   (初中英语单词)
• addition [ə´diʃən]   n.加；加法；附加物   (初中英语单词)
• system [´sistəm]   n.系统，体系，制度   (初中英语单词)
• comment [´kɔment]   n.&v.评论；评注；注意   (初中英语单词)
• weekly [´wi:kli]   a.&ad.每周一次(的)   (初中英语单词)
• interview [´intəvju:]   n.&vt.接见；会见；交谈   (初中英语单词)
• valuable [´væljuəbəl, -jubəl]   a.有价值的，贵重的   (初中英语单词)
• working [´wə:kiŋ]   a.工人的；劳动的   (初中英语单词)
• advertising [´ædvətaiziŋ]   n.广告a.广告的   (初中英语单词)
• program [´prəugræm]   n.说明v.为...安排节目   (初中英语单词)
• gracious [´greiʃəs]   a.和蔼可亲的；任慈的   (初中英语单词)
• culture [´kʌltʃə]   n.修养；文化；饲养   (初中英语单词)
• academy [ə´kædəmi]   n.专科学校；学会；协会   (初中英语单词)
• partner [´pɑ:tnə]   n.伙伴 v.同....合作   (初中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən]   num.万亿   (高中英语单词)
• learned [´lə:nid]   a.有学问的，博学的   (高中英语单词)
• revenue [´revinju:]   n.税收；收入   (高中英语单词)
• personally [´pə:sənəli]   ad.亲自；就个人来说   (高中英语单词)
• previously [´pri:viəsli]   ad.预先；以前   (高中英语单词)
• roughly [´rʌfli]   ad.粗糙地；毛糙地   (高中英语单词)
• decade [´dekeid]   n.十年(间)   (高中英语单词)
• squarely [´skwɛəli]   ad.成方形地；正直地   (英语四级单词)
• reputation [repju´teiʃən]   n.名誉；名声；信誉   (英语四级单词)
• prospective [prə´spektiv]   a.预期的；未来的   (英语四级单词)
• participate [pɑ:´tisipeit]   v.参与；分享；带有   (英语四级单词)
• gotten [´gɔtn]   get的过去分词   (英语四级单词)
• negotiate [ni´gəuʃieit]   v.谈判；解决；转让   (英语四级单词)
• twitter [´twitə]   vi.(鸟)吱吱叫 n.鸟鸣   (英语六级单词)
• diverse [dai´və:s]   a.完全不同的   (英语六级单词)
• spokesman [´spəuksmən]   n.发言人   (英语六级单词)
• feeder [´fi:də]   n.饲养员；食客   (英语六级单词)
• willingness [´wiliŋnis]   n.情愿，乐意，自愿   (英语六级单词)