David Cheriton

David Cheriton appears in Ron Conway on Google’s Early History and SV Angel’s Role as the Stanford University professor and early Google investor who first told Ron Conway about Backrub. Conway says SV Angel had deliberately built relationships with Stanford engineering professors, and Cheriton’s introduction became the key signal in that Stanford Startup Sourcing strategy.

Cheriton also controlled timing. He told Conway about Larry Page and Sergey Brin before the product was ready, then waited until the founders were ready to raise before arranging the Empire Tap Room meeting. In Conway’s account, Cheriton made the technical opportunity legible by describing “PageRank and relevance.”

Connections

• Stanford University, Rajiv Motwani, and Stanford Startup Sourcing - academic network around Google.
• Ron Conway, SV Angel, and Google - investor-sourcing path.
• Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and PageRank Search Relevance - founders and technical breakthrough.