Do you know who invented YouTube and how the video-sharing platform has evolved over the years? YouTube is an online video-sharing platform with more than 2 billion monthly active users. It was founded in 2005 by three former PayPal employees and has become one of the most influential platforms on the internet. It’s where we watch music videos, clips from our favorite shows, or educational tutorials.
From its humble beginnings to becoming a phenomenon, YouTube has come a long way. You may have heard of its success story, but do you know about its history and the key people behind it? Here’s all the information about YouTube growth service, YouTube’s founding fathers, revenue streams, and innovations that have made the platform so popular. YouTube has become one of the world’s most used video streaming and sharing platform. Every day millions of people access YouTube to watch their favorite videos, stream live events and make use of educational resources. Did you know YouTube first began as a dating website? Read on to learn more about the history and founders of YouTube, along with some fun facts you may not have known about this popular service!
History of YouTube
YouTube was established by two former PayPal employees, Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, in 2005. Originally the site was designed to be a place where users could upload personal videos, much like Vimeo or MySpace Video. It quickly evolved into a much larger destination for watching multiple types of content shared by users around the world. In 2006, Google purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion dollars — making it one of the highest-valued websites ever purchased at that time.
Founders of YouTube
Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim were all working together at PayPal when they decided to develop a new video-sharing website called “Tune In.” After bringing on board investors, venture capitalist Sequoia Capital invested funds for its launch in 2005, which was then called ‘YouTube.’ They quickly rose to fame, becoming an extremely successful company soon after its conception due mainly to Google acquiring them less than 18 months after their initial launch in 2006 for a staggering US $1.65 billion.
Fun Facts About YouTube
– You can access over 2 billion active users per month on YouTube;
– Each minute alone, over 400 hours worth of video is uploaded;
– Over 5 billion videos are watched every day;
– The most subscribed channel on YouTube currently has over 109 million subscribers;
– The average viewing session lasts 40 minutes;
– 4 out of 10 millennials watch YouTube more than cable TV;
– 93% of marketers use video as part of their marketing strategy;
– 90%of consumers watch a product video before making purchase decisions;
– An estimated 51%of YouTube views come from mobile devices; and
– The first ever YouTube video uploaded was titled “Me at the zoo” by co-founder Jawed Karim back in April 2005, coincidently breaking another record -with over 97 million views currently reigning as the second oldest existing YouTube video!
