July 27 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc. founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page came to New York in dark suits to sell their company's $3.3 billion initial public offering to investors at the Waldorf Astoria's Grand Ballroom. The presentation drew mixed reviews.

Dining on chilled marinated chicken breast and grilled salmon, investors and analysts heard a 20-minute presentation by Brin, 30, Page, 31, Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, 49, and Chief Financial Officer George Reyes, 50, who afterward took questions for about 40 minutes. The ballroom, which had been booked for 1,200 people, held fewer than 800 people, attendees said.

The Google founders, escorted by bodyguards to the meeting, didn't talk about future products, earnings or strategy, people who attended the meeting said. Brin and Page made no comments as to what the price of the IPO may be or when the share sale may happen. Reporters were barred from the meeting.

``Given the hype and hoopla surrounding the IPO I thought the presentation failed to live up to expectations,'' said Eric Grollman, an analyst who attended the meeting and asked that his firm not be named.

Grollman declined to say whether he intends to buy shares of Google, the world's most-used Web search engine.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, plans to sell 24.6 million shares to investors at $108 to $135 a share next month, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday. Brin and Page at the meeting reiterated that the IPO will be sold via an Internet-based auction.

The 26 underwriters will take orders from their clients and pass them on to the firms managing the IPO, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston. The lead managers will set the final clearing price with Google.

Slide Presentation

At the Waldorf, Brin narrated a slide presentation of Google's financial performance, pausing to gaze about the room only for Schmidt to jokingly tell him to ``stick to the script,'' people at the presentation said.

``Whatever they did was intentional,'' said Morris Mark, general partner of Mark Partners in New York who was at the Waldorf lunch. ``I think they made it a point to do a very short, terse presentation.''

Mark declined to comment on whether he will buy Google stock.

Alan Loewenstein, who helps manage the $400 million John Hancock Technology Fund in Garden City, New York, said he felt the Google executives did a good job explaining their strategy and the company's prospects.

``Obviously, the concept works,'' he said of Google's business. ``When you look at them versus Yahoo, Amazon and EBay, they're right in the sweet spot of growth.''

Google's net income rose 247 percent to $143 million, or 54 cents a share, in the first half of this year from $58 million, or 23 cents, in the year-earlier period, the company said in the SEC filing.

Yahoo! Inc.'s net income in the same period rose 219 percent to $213.7 million, or 15 cents a share, from $97.5 million, or 8 cents.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brett Cole at coleb@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 27, 2004 19:17 EDT