Yes, in retrospect I was stupid not to at least have sent a short email or two. Honestly, I look back and wonder what the hell I was thinking.

If it's any measure of consolation, your openness in being willing to admit and discuss this is inspiring.

I just wish I could be inspiring in some other way. ;) But thank you for that.

It sounds to me like the Writely engineer who called you didn't know why he was meant to call.

That would have set of very loud alarm bells for me. What did you think at the time?!

My natural tendency would be towards patience, I think, so I would be in danger of letting things slide. Realizing that, though, I'd be in a position to do something about it. If the goal is to keep your name on the radar, it seems like you just need to get something into the contact's inbox. What about a note detailing new features or improvements you'd implemented in the past week or two? It could be a way to indicate continued interest without feeling like you're badgering. Hopefully the contact would reply and provide some insight into the progress. If not, a more direct approach would probably be warranted.

"...get something into the contact's inbox" -- yes, this. You can avoid sitting and waiting without being rude or pushy either.

With a little creativity, there's usually a way to keep communication open without seeming rude by asking again about whatever it is you actually want to know.

Ideally, something that prompts a short reply -- ending with a simple yes/no question, for example -- so that they will actively respond to you, and feel some obligation to also give you a short update on The Big Thing.

You can also amiably pester someone repeatedly by giving them a new reason for the new request.

If you're communicating with someone very busy, also be very sure to make any email message as simple and terse as you can.

Agreed. As a starter upper, I'm always the little guy who's chasing the bigger guy (investor, client). I try not to be pushy, but if 1-2 weeks go by, I'll write a friendly what's up email and that usually works.

Presumably Google was looking to speed up time to market.

If the acquisition process takes too long, they are not saving time (they could have coded it internally) and they have plenty of engineers already.

sending regular (say once in 2-3 weeks) updates about the company could be a good way of staying on the radar