Courtney Jones on Inventing Pay-Per-Click Search Engines, Competing with Google, and Growing to $1B

On episode #18 of the STICK TALK podcast, the boys sit down with Courtney Jones to talk about inventing the first pay-per-click search engine, competing with Google in the early days and meeting Sergey Brin at a conference, owning an IndyCar team, predicting digital entrepreneurship 25 years early, and surviving a plane crash.

Courtney founded FindWhat.com, the first pay-per-click search engine even before Google. Courtney also ran an infomercial called the Electronic Entrepreneur, where he successfully predicted the rise of digital entrepreneurship decades before it started. Currently, Courtney enjoys flying planes, spending time with family, and is working on a brand new venture that’s going to shake up a massive industry.

Time stamps:

(00:00:00) - Introduction to Courtney Jones and his experience launching internet businesses

(00:03:24) - Building a search engine and inventing pay-per-click advertising (00:06:43) - Meeting Sergey Brin and the Story of Starting a Search Engine (00:10:21) - The Growth Strategy of a Search Engine Business (00:13:55) - The Rise of Paid Search and Google's Entry into the Business (00:17:25) - The story of how Google entered the search industry (00:20:59) - How Google Became the Biggest Business in the World (00:24:33) - Google's Responsibility in Privacy and Content Control (00:28:01) - The Importance of Having Vision and Following Intuition (00:31:37) - The Coolest Country Club and Meeting Gene Simmons (00:35:15) - The Excitement and Agony of Racing, and the Dangers of Being Friends with Drivers (00:38:52) - Surviving a Plane Crash and the Fragility of Life (00:42:27) - The Joy of Fatherhood and the Thrill of Flying (00:45:51) - Surviving a Plane Crash and Living Life to the Fullest (00:49:19) - The History of the Internet: From BBS to Netscape to Amazon (00:52:56) - The Rise of Amazon and the Dual Nature of the Universe (00:56:40) - Sushi, Twitter, and Domains (01:00:17) - Will the Government Bail Out the Banks? Plus a Discussion on Misguided Policy and Going Down the Rabbit Hole (01:04:08) - Creating an Imaginary Stock Exchange and Saving America with Crypto (01:07:44) - Saving America as a Business Idea (01:11:39) - Cold Storage and the Future of Cryptocurrency (01:15:18) - The Battle Between Logic and Emotion in the Crypto Industry (01:18:59) - Fly the Airplane: Lessons for Entrepreneurs and Understanding our Connectedness (01:22:17) - Storytime with David Shapiro: Hollywood Encounters with Jack Nicholson and Pierce Brosnan (01:25:47) - Michael Jordan never left his hotel room and dinner with JFK, Gisele, and personal connections (01:29:16) - Racing, Music, and JFK: A Wide-Ranging Conversation with David Shapiro