Slimy Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Internet search leader Google Inc. has added a landmark to its rapidly expanding empire ? the Silicon Valley home where co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin rented a garage eight years ago as they set out to change the world.The Mountain View-based company bought the 1,900-square-foot home in nearby Menlo Park from one of its own employees, Susan Wojcicki, who had agreed to lease her garage for $1,700 per month because she wanted some help paying the mortgage. Wojcicki, now Google's vice president of product management, didn't work for the company at the time and only knew the Stanford University graduate students because one of her friends had dated Brin. During Google's five-month history there, the garage became like a second home for Page and Brin. The entrepreneurs, then just 25, seemed to be always working on their search engine or soaking in the hot tub that still sits on the property. They also had a penchant for raiding Wojcicki's refrigerator ? a habit that may have inspired Google to provide a smorgasbord of free food to the 8,000 employees on its payroll. When Page and Brin first moved in the garage, Google had just been incorporated with a bankroll of $1 million raised from a handful of investors. Today, Google has about $10 billion in cash and a market value of $125 billion. The company's astounding growth has imbued its birthplace with the same kind of mystique attached to other hallowed Silicon Valley spots like the Palo Alto garage where Hewlett-Packard Co. started in 1938 and the Los Altos garage where Steve Jobs and his partner Steve Wozniak first began to build Apple computers in the 1970s. HP paid $1.7 million for 12-by-18-foot garage that co-founder William Hewlett first rented for $45 per month. Google declined to reveal how much it paid for its original home, but similar houses in the same neighborhood have been selling in the $1.1 million to $1.3 million range. That's a small fraction of the $319 million that Google paid earlier this year for its current 1-million-square-foot headquarters located six miles to the south. Although the Google garage isn't considered a historic site quite yet, it already has turned into a tourist attraction. The busloads of people that show up to take pictures of the house and garage have become such an annoyance that Google asked The Associated Press not to publish the property's address, although it can easily be found on the Internet using the company's search engine. Google may use the home as a guest house, but nothing definitive has been worked out. "We plan to preserve the property as a part of our living legacy," said Google spokesman Jon Murchinson. Source Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Des429 Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 i wish there were some pictures of that. would be cool to see where it all started. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587922320 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intelligen Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Ironic they don't want the address published but there own search engine reveals the address. :) Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587922336 Share on other sites More sharing options...
gadean Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 i wish there were some pictures of that. would be cool to see where it all started. Follow the link. There an image of the garage. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587922360 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCobra Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Although the Google garage isn't considered a historic site quite yet, it already has turned into a tourist attraction. Oh give me a freaking break. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587922374 Share on other sites More sharing options...
the godfather Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Oh give me a freaking break. ROFL Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587922403 Share on other sites More sharing options...
crimsonhead Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 QUICK someone find it on google maps. Just look for a giant statue of Jesus. :D Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587922410 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shof Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 everything has its own small starting place Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587922525 Share on other sites More sharing options...
L3thal Veteran Posted October 2, 2006 Veteran Share Posted October 2, 2006 Oh give me a freaking break. :laugh: Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587922563 Share on other sites More sharing options...
roxics Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 The wierd part to me is that people rent garages at houses. I've never heard of this before. Also do they have basements in California? I thought I remember hearing once that basements were pretty specific to the midwest/northeast. That's where most aspiring people do their genius work around here, garages are left for cars and storage. Gets too cold to work in a garage in the winter around here unless you have a space heater. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587922592 Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Ark Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 from the main article's source... if anyone is lazy to click the link for the image lol Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587923460 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premgenius Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Nice Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587923481 Share on other sites More sharing options...
thugilex Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 thats nice Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587923482 Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamNeeds Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Cool - I suppose it makes sense with the whole nostalgic thing. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587923958 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouldy Punk Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Google has about $10 billion in cash O rly? I dread to think how big the piggy bank for that is :p Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587924003 Share on other sites More sharing options...
OfF3nSiV3 Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 and is worth 100 billion i think Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587924228 Share on other sites More sharing options...
khalsa Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 The wierd part to me is that people rent garages at houses. I've never heard of this before. Also do they have basements in California? I thought I remember hearing once that basements were pretty specific to the midwest/northeast. That's where most aspiring people do their genius work around here, garages are left for cars and storage. Gets too cold to work in a garage in the winter around here unless you have a space heater. I've never heard of this before either...I agree with the basement part, at least thats how it is up here in Canada. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/500164-google-buys-garage-where-it-all-started/#findComment-587925084 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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