
Back when YouTube was just a flicker in the minds of three brilliant ex-PayPal employees, long before it became the video-sharing behemoth we know today, it was simply an idea born out of our shared passion for all things cinematic. My comrades Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and myself, Jawed Karim, were driven by a burning desire to create something remarkable after eBay acquired the company where we once worked.
The spark that ignited YouTube came from an event as iconic as it was controversial – the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show incident involving Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. The unexpected exposure of Ms. Jackson’s breast during that performance left a lasting impression on us, fueling our vision for a platform where anyone could share their stories, ideas, and creative works with the world.