9781422270424

chapter 1

STORY OF A STARTUP

MAGNIFICENT MATCH Through the years, some of the biggest names in politics, business, sports, and entertainment have walked the sprawling and scenic Stanford University campus in Northern California as college students. In the mid-1990s, two students from opposite ends of the globe met on that 8,180-acre campus while pursuing PhDs in computer science. This connection would ignite one of the most dynamic duos in tech history and later result in a creation known worldwide: Google. Russian-born Sergey Brin and Larry Page, born in Michigan’s state capital of Lansing, met at Stanford. What they would proceed to do in the ensuing years not only catapulted them to enormous fame and fortune, but it also landed them at the top of a dazzling and impressive list of students who have attended the prestigious university. Among those they joined are former US presidents Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy; Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female judge of the US Supreme Court; professional golfing great Tiger Woods; entrepreneur and investor Elon Musk; actresses Reese Witherspoon and Sigourney Weaver; and the list goes on. Stanford was the starting point of a journey for two magnificent

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