[throw0101a]

> It was dead the moment they let investors in

They had investors before they even incorporated:

> Bechtolsheim and Cheriton were two of the first investors in Google, investing US$100,000 each in September 1998. When he gave the check to Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google's founders, the company had not yet been legally incorporated.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Bechtolsheim#Investments