Google CEO Sundar Pichai on how he 'cheered up' his team when then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer called Chrome browser 'a rounding error'

Microsoft 's ex-CEO Steve Ballmer dismissed Google 's Chrome browser as "a rounding error" shortly after its launch in 2008. Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently recalled encouraging the Chrome team after Ballmer's remark. Speaking at a recent commencement address at Stanford University , he said that Ballmer's comment could have discouraged Google employees at a time when Chrome was still trying to gain traction against Microsoft's Internet Explorer . Instead, Pichai used the criticism to motivate the team to keep pushing forward.



"It could have been demoralising. But with that California optimism, I told the team that the fact he went out of his way to dismiss us meant we were doing something right,” Pichai said at the event.



In 2008, Chrome launched when Internet Explorer was the dominant browser, accounting for roughly 60% of global browser usage. A year later, Ballmer downplayed Chrome's significance during an interview, saying, "The most successful by far is Firefox. Chrome is a rounding error to date. Safari is a rounding error to date."




How Google CEO Sundar Pichai kept the Chrome team motivated




According to Pichai, Chrome saw some early momentum after launch, but growth later slowed, and its market share remained in the low single digits. Rather than lowering expectations, the team focused on improving the browser through frequent updates and ambitious goals.



"We kept going, setting highly aggressive stretch goals to keep the team pushing. We rapidly iterated, shipping the browser every six weeks while others shipped one, maybe every six months to a year. Success began to follow,” Pichai noted.