In 2005, it became common to see people huddled around laptops watching the latest viral videos, marking a dawning era of the internet, with videos like a Saturday Night Live clip and a Nike ad reaching a million views, while we also realized that YouTube was consuming a significant portion of the internet's bandwidth, a technical achievement that many didn't fully understand at the time.

I believed YouTube could become the destination for user-generated video on the internet. They had a spectacular team, and the product was delightful and easy to use, which led to Sequoia Capital backing YouTube's first financing.

YouTube will continue to focus on technology and support for creators, while the creative direction will be determined by the creators themselves. When I first started at YouTube ten years ago, the number of creators was around four or five, but now there's a proliferation of amazing content and creativity, which defines YouTube today and will continue to do so in the next decade.

The first version of YouTube was a dating site, where users had to rate videos from 1 to 10 before seeing the next one. After one week with zero videos uploaded, we pivoted to allow any type of video to be shared, which led to the YouTube we know today.

YouTube's evolution from a video dating service to a global platform has enabled millions to create careers and has become a primary source of entertainment and education worldwide.

YouTube is fundamentally about watching, sharing, and creating video content, and it aims to maintain its position as the world's oldest and largest creator economy.

The embed feature was crucial for YouTube's growth. It allowed users to share videos on platforms like MySpace, which helped create an organic virality without spending any money on marketing.

In 2006, YouTube's board faced a crucial decision on whether to sell the company or continue independently, ultimately leaning towards an acquisition due to overwhelming legal pressures.

The realization that YouTube's survival depended on selling to a company with more resources to handle legal challenges became clear after facing inevitable litigation from rights holders.