Imagine your biggest mistake.
Then multiply it by a trillion.
In 1998, two college students walked into Yahoo's headquarters with an idea that would change the internet.
These two young men? Larry Page and Sergey Brin — the founders of Google.
What was Yahoo's response?
"Get out, we don't need it."
That's right: Yahoo only needed to spend the price of a Silicon Valley house to own Google.
Instead, they let Larry and Sergey walk out.
The most interesting part is...
Their 'small project' wasn't even called Google at the time.
It was called 'BackRub' — because it assessed the importance of a website by analyzing 'backlinks.'
Yahoo thought the name and the technology were equally absurd.
But they overlooked one big thing:
Page and Brin invented PageRank:
A revolutionary algorithm that ranks websites based on the number of links from other sites.
It's like counting votes — if many websites link to yours, you must be important.
Simple yet genius. However, Yahoo just didn't understand...
"Search isn't important. We are a portal site."
They were so focused on becoming a 'media company' that they completely missed the future of the internet.
Meanwhile, Larry and Sergey continued to develop their 'worthless' project.
By 2002, Yahoo finally realized their mistake...
They offered $3 billion to acquire Google.
But it was too late — Larry and Sergey were asking for $5 billion.
Yahoo's CEO Terry Semel rejected it.
This is another costly historical mistake.
And while Yahoo was busy acquiring failed companies like GeoCities and Broadcast...
Google is quietly building its empire with AdWords.
They understood that search is not just a tool — it is the gateway to the internet.
Meanwhile, the news began to spread:
In 2008, Microsoft offered $44.6 billion to acquire Yahoo.
What was Yahoo's response?
"We want more."
Today:
• Yahoo was sold to Verizon for $4.48 billion
• Google's revenue in three days exceeded Yahoo's best year
It all happened because Yahoo couldn't see the potential of a 'simple search engine.'
But the real lesson here is:
Innovation often doesn't seem impressive at first.
The next great thing is often seen as 'worthless' by most people.
And that's why it's valuable — because others couldn't see its potential.
Today, Google processes:
• 3.5 billion searches
• 1.2 trillion searches per year
• 40,000 searches per second
It all happened because two college students refused to give up when everyone said their idea was worthless.
It was rumored that Larry and Sergey joked every year about sending Yahoo a 'thank you card.'
Because this story is not just about missed opportunities.
It's also about sticking to your vision when others don't believe in you.
Sometimes, when others say 'no' to you, it can be the best thing.
