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Google, Inc. business check, 6 x 2.75, filled out and signed by Brin, "Sergey Brin," payable to Squaw Valley for $509, no date but circa March 1999. Brin adds "Lift Tickets" as a memo in the lower left. Google's address is given as "165 University Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301," otherwise known as the 'Lucky Building' or 'Karma Building.' In very fine condition.
Google, Inc. was officially incorporated on September 7, 1998, by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, as a way to bring their 'PageRank' algorithm—an improved method of ranking internet search results, developed in the course of their Stanford doctoral work—to the masses. This check, written just six months later and signed by the co-founder, dates to very early in the company's history.
Having received several million dollars in venture capital investments, Google, Inc. had recently moved out of its Menlo Park garage (at the home of Susan Wojcicki) and into its first real office space in Palo Alto's 'Lucky Building'—famed as an incubator for several noted Silicon Valley startups. As such, this check represents Google's early, rapid growth—the firm occupied the 'Lucky Building' for only a few months before needing to move to a larger space, a victim of its own success.
The consignor notes: "In August of 1998, Andy Bechtolsheim wrote a check to Google for $100,000 becoming the initial investor in the company. Later in 1998 there was additional investment in the company including $250,000 by Jeff Bezos in November 1998. With this additional funding and with the number of employees growing, the company moved into the first office space at 165 University Avenue in Palo Alto in March of 1999…I joined the company in April of 2002. I worked in the Finance department as the manager of Disbursements and Payroll. I was the first manager level hired in the Finance department. I came across these checks as we were moving from one location to another, as we did frequently. The checks were to be discarded to make room for other files. The company was growing very fast at the time. I kept them thinking it would be fun to have from a historical perspective."
He further recalls: "Google was famous for our all-company ski trips to Squaw Valley. The company closed down for three days and everyone went. This check might be for the first one. It looks like it was written at the ski resort."
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