YouTube’s Ex-CPO Says He Had to ‘Ask for Investment’ From Google – Business Insider

Ex-YouTube chief product officer Shishir Mehrotra said he had to “ask for investment” from Google’s “cash pile.” Big Event Media/Getty Images for HumanX Conference YouTube’s former chief product officer Shishir Mehrotra said the company didn’t have “infinite money.” On the “Grit” podcast, Mehrotra said that YouTube paid Google 25 cents for every dollar it made. “Google had a cash pile over there, but I had to go ask for investment from it,” Mehrotra said. Leaders need to know how to pitch — even inside a trillion-dollar company like Google. Shishir Mehrotra helped lead YouTube through its early 2010s boom. He introduced some of the platform’s most notable features like skippable ads, eventually serving as chief product officer. Mehrotra has since left the company, and is now the CEO of Grammarly. Money wasn’t falling from the sky at YouTube, Mehrotra said on the “Grit” podcast. When he wanted money, he needed to ask for it. “Google had a cash pile over there, but I had to go ask for investment from it,” Mehrotra said. “It’s just like raising money from a venture capitalist.” When Mehrotra joined YouTube in 2008, the company was still unprofitable. After two years, the company turned a
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