Raksasa internet Google seperti tak yakin dengan hari ulang tahunnya sendiri. Mulai dari kerjasama pertama Brin-Page di Januari 1996, pendaftaran nama domain Google di 15 September 1997 atau mulainya perusahaan 7 September 1998. Pastinya, Google kerap merayakan pada 27 September atau ‘tergantung kapan karyawan mau makan kue’.

“As a founder of Sun Microsystems, Andy Bechtolsheim was used to taking the long view. When he saw a demo of Google he knew it had potential. A lot of potential. While he had interest, he didn’t have a lot of time. According to Sergey, ‘We met him very early one morning on the porch of a Stanford faculty member’s home in Palo Alto. We gave him a quick demo. He had to run off somewhere, so he said, instead of us discussing all the details, why don’t I just write you a check? It was made out to Google Inc. and was for $100,000.’

“The investment created a small dilemma. There was no way to deposit the check since there was no legal entity known as ‘Google Inc.’ It sat in Larry’s desk drawer for a couple of weeks while he and Sergey scrambled to set up a corporation and locate a few other funders among family, friends and acquaintances. Ultimately, they brought in a total initial investment of almost $1 million.”