There was a saying people liked to repeat about Stanford:
Once you stepped off campus, everything a startup could possibly need was already waiting for you within twenty kilometers. Angel investors, venture capital, private equity, consulting, legal services, recruiting, talent. Everything.
Even with the Nasdaq crash having burst the internet bubble and left Silicon Valley looking a lot more subdued than before, incorporating a company was still fairly simple.
A few hundred dollars in filing fees, copies of identification, shareholder information, corporate paperwork, and that was basically it. In nine to fifteen business days, the certificate of incorporation and the corporate seal would be ready.
As for the two million dollars in registered capital, that did not need to be fully paid in immediately. There was time to complete the capital contribution later.
By the time Bruce finished handling the incorporation paperwork, Martin had already found a place he thought would work as an office.
But when Bruce drove his Chevrolet to the address Martin had given him, he just stared.
He had been expecting Martin to find a bright little office suite in some business park.
Instead, Martin had found them a garage.
"Bruce, look at this," Martin said excitedly. "It's a full eight hundred square feet. That's twice the size of our dorm setup. And if we expand later, we might even be able to lease the whole house. Best of all, the rent is dirt cheap. Only a hundred and twenty dollars a month."
Watching Martin go on and on, Bruce understood exactly where this was coming from. Martin had spent most of his life counting every dollar. Even with money now within reach, thrift was still his first instinct.
But Bruce had already thought of better ways to raise money.
Yes, there would be a lot more spending ahead. But even so, there was no reason to make LinkedIn operate out of a garage. If it came to that, he would rather stay in the dorm.
"Martin, calm down for a second. Did you leave a deposit?"
"No. You're the CEO. How could I make that decision without you?"
"Good."
Bruce let out a quiet breath of relief, then turned to the landlord.
"I'm sorry, sir. We're going to pass on the garage. Thanks for your time."
"Hey, wait," the landlord said quickly, a white guy in a plaid shirt hurrying after them. "If it's the price, we can negotiate."
Since the Nasdaq collapse, hardly anyone had even come by to ask about the place. But Bruce moved fast. He pulled Martin along with him, and within seconds the two of them were back in the car and gone, without giving the landlord another chance.
Once they were back on the road, Martin said, "Honestly, I still think that place wasn't bad."
Bruce glanced at him.
"Martin, do you really think a tech company with two million dollars behind it should be operating out of a garage? LinkedIn is already past the workshop stage. We're sitting on nearly sixty thousand registered users. What matters now is getting a proper office, building a real company image, and bringing in more engineers so we can professionalize the operation."
Martin looked uneasy.
"But two million only gives us about a year of runway. If we can't raise follow-on funding, and LinkedIn still isn't profitable by then, we're going to have a hard time surviving."
"Leave the funding to me," Bruce said calmly. "Your job is to lead the engineering side, keep improving the platform, and make the product better for users."
"I understand."
Martin nodded. When it came to the product itself, he had always trusted Bruce's judgment. Bruce had a graduate degree in computer science and a bachelor's degree in economics. Between the two of them, he was clearly the stronger one on the business side.
As they talked, Bruce drove into Mountain View, one of the cities that made up Silicon Valley. Before Google turned the place into prime real estate, housing and office costs in Mountain View were much lower than in Menlo Park, Palo Alto, or Sunnyvale. At the time, it was still just a small city with fewer than eighty thousand residents.
Bruce pulled over by the curb.
"Come on. Let's check this place out."
He got out of the car.
Martin looked up at the building in front of them. It was about six stories tall, with bright floor-to-ceiling windows and a clean, modern look that made it feel far more polished than anything they actually needed right now.
At least, that was how it looked to him.
Still, Bruce was already walking toward it.
Martin shook his head and followed.
They found the property management office, knocked, and went in. Bruce got straight to the point.
"Hi. I wanted to ask about leasing office space here."
A middle-aged woman in a black business suit stood up.
"You're interested in office space in this building?"
"That's right."
"Please, have a seat over here."
She led the two of them to a reception area.
"And your names?"
"Guo. And this is Alexander."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Guo, Mr. Alexander. I'm Christie, leasing manager for Hills Property."
After brief introductions and a handshake, Christie asked, "What size space are you looking for?"
"What do you currently have available, and what are your rates?"
"We can offer one thousand square feet, two thousand square feet, or larger. Asking rent is twelve dollars per square foot annually."
Bruce thought for a moment, then said, "Could you show us the spaces?"
"Of course. Please follow me."
She led them down a long corridor into the office wing. The suites were split with a mix of solid walls and tempered glass partitions, and the company names mounted outside made it clear that each space belonged to a different tenant.
Christie unlocked an empty suite and brought them inside.
"This one is twelve hundred square feet," she said. "It's ideal for a startup. And if you're ready to sign today, we can offer a ten percent discount on the lease rate."
Bruce walked the entire space before turning back.
"Do you have anything bigger?"
"Certainly. We have a two-thousand-square-foot suite on the second floor."
"Bruce, I think this one would already work pretty well," Martin whispered, tugging lightly at his arm.
"We'll take a look first and decide after."
Smiling, Bruce followed Christie upstairs. Compared to the first floor, the second was noticeably quieter. Nearly half the suites were still vacant.
After walking through the larger office, Bruce turned to Martin.
"What do you think?"
"It's great," Martin admitted. "Really great. It's just expensive. Rent alone comes to twenty-four thousand a year. Even with the ten percent discount, that's still twenty-one thousand six hundred. That's enough to buy a solid IBM x86 server off the secondary market."
He looked genuinely pained saying it.
Unlike Bruce, Martin had not grown up in comfort. Years of watching his parents stretch every dollar had left him with a deeply ingrained habit of saving money wherever he could.
"Don't worry so much about the money," Bruce said. "There'll be more later. Right now, what matters is using a good office to improve the company's image and attract smarter people to work with us."
Maybe it was Bruce's confidence, or maybe it was the simple force of his certainty, but Martin was quiet after that.
With Christie's help, Bruce signed the lease and prepaid a year on the suite.
Just like that, the two-thousand-square-foot office on the second floor of the Hills building became LinkedIn's first official office.
As they got back into the car, Bruce turned and looked up at the Hills building gleaming in the sunlight.
"Martin," he said, his voice full of confidence, "I promise you this. In less than three years, the whole building will be ours."
Martin studied him for a moment, then slowly nodded.
"Bruce, ever since the accident, you've gotten a lot more confident."
Bruce paused for half a second, then smiled.
"Confidence isn't a bad thing."
Then he shifted the subject.
"Anyway, next up is hiring. You handle recruiting developers and engineers. I'll take care of finance, HR, and the rest."
He had changed the subject on purpose. After all, he was no longer the same person Martin thought he knew.
Martin nodded.
"After the Nasdaq crash, Silicon Valley is full of laid-off engineers. Hiring shouldn't be hard for us. Especially when this is our world."
"Exactly. Come on. Let's take it easy tonight. Tomorrow the real work starts."
With that, Bruce opened the car door and got in.
When they returned to campus and parked outside the building, they were just about to head upstairs when a striking figure slowly approached from a distance.
Martin saw her and immediately got the message.
"I'll head up first."
Bruce nodded.
After greeting her briefly, Martin disappeared into the dorm.
Bruce looked toward the woman walking over.
She was wearing a light blue knit sweater, black fitted pants, and dark brown mid-heel shoes. She was tall and graceful, with long black hair falling over her shoulders, delicate features, and a soft, elegant air about her.
Even after two lifetimes, Bruce could not help feeling his heart move a little.
Thanks to the memories in his head, he knew exactly who she was.
"Alice."
He walked over to her, just slightly hesitant.
"This morning Molly said she saw you back," Alice said. Then she looked him over carefully. "You seem fully recovered."
Bruce nodded.
"I heard about your father. Don't be too sad."
"I know. It's behind me now."
After a pause, he said, "Want to go for a walk?"
"Okay."
When she agreed, Bruce reached out and took her hand. Since they were already a couple, she did not pull away.
They walked down Stanford's famous Palm Drive toward the Main Quad. Around them were students and visitors wandering through what many people considered one of the most beautiful campuses in America.
They found a relatively quiet place to sit. Bruce slipped an arm around her waist and drew her into his embrace.
As he breathed in her familiar, faintly intoxicating scent and looked out over Stanford's beautiful campus under the golden light of the setting sun, the whole world seemed to soften.
Neither of them spoke.
Neither wanted to break the silence.
So they stayed that way until the sky darkened and the crowds gradually thinned.