From Stanford Dorms to a $4 Trillion Tech Giant: Google’s Origin Story
In 1998, Andy Bechtolsheim wrote a $100,000 check to the not-yet-incorporated Google, which was then operating out of Susan Wojcicki’s garage, launching a company that now tops $4 trillion in value.
The partnership between Larry Page and Sergey Brin began in 1995 at Stanford, where they created a search prototype named Backrub that ranked pages by link analysis. Renamed Google to reflect the ambition of organizing vast information, the project caught the eye of Sun Microsystems co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim, who issued a $100,000 cheque to "Google Inc." even though the company had not yet been formally established.
Operating out of Susan Wojcicki’s garage in Menlo Park, the team used basic desktop computers, a ping-pong table, blue carpet, and famously built their first server from Lego bricks, while a dog named Yoshka became an early office mascot. The garage era also saw the debut of the first Google Doodle, a modest stick figure placed behind the second "O" to signal the team’s attendance at Burning Man. As the startup grew, it moved to the Mountain View campus, the Googleplex, and expanded its product lineup to include Search, Gmail, YouTube, and Android. Celebrating its 28th birthday in 2026, Google’s journey from a $100,000 investment and a rented garage to a $4 trillion enterprise remains one of technology’s most documented success stories.
Why it matters
Understanding Google’s humble beginnings highlights how early decisions and culture shaped a company that now influences billions worldwide.
In this story
