History of YouTube

Founded by Chad Hurley, Steven Chen, and Jawed Karim, YouTube launched with little fanfare in June 2005 and has now become one of the most visited websites in the history of the internet. The website provided a very simple, integrated interface within which users could upload, publish, and view streaming videos without high levels of technical knowledge.

Chad Hurley, Steven Chen, and Jawed Karim thought up this idea after shooting videos together and realizing they had no way to share what they made with each other.

All three men worked at PayPal together, and were able to use the money they earned from their already well-paying jobs to create the concept for YouTube. This all took place after a dinner party in San Francisco that lasted well into the morning. They wrote many of the concepts on a Denny’s napkin.

They started a company together in 2011 to allow them to pursue multiple projects at a time. Like many technology startups, YouTube was started as an angel-funded enterprise from a makeshift office in a garage. In November 2005, venture firm Sequoia Capital invested an initial $3.5 million; additionally, Roelof Botha, partner of the firm and former CFO of PayPal, joined the YouTube board of directors.

YouTube was comparable to other video-startups at the time until the company was sold to Google in October 2006 for 1.65 billion dollars.

Since being purchased by Google, YouTube has evolved from a site where amateur and ad-free videos were posted to an online destination that is now consumed by commercialized and professional videos.
History of YouTube