The Xpree Party

In the heart of Palo Alto, California stands a house, garage and shed. Now a historic landmark, the house marks the birthplace of Hewlett Packard, and has been designated the official birthplace of Silicon Valley.



In August 2007, when Xpree was 3 weeks old and we were busy "cranking" (as Mat likes to say ) out a prototype for EA, our mutual friend Jenny Middleton visited from London, and we took her on a walking tour of Mat's neighbourhood. We visited the HP house, but were confined to the outside facade and the plaque for visitors, describing the house as a historical landmark and the birthplace of Silicon Valley. We read the plaque together in wonder at the brave pioneers who had started their company in a garage and made sacrifices in order to push an idea that we believed in through. Never did I believe that we'd have our first party in the HP house.

Left to right: Simon, myself, Leslie, Walter, Mat, Vahe and Mike Pliner (advisor)




Leslie made this all possible, through her friend Sid Espinosa, who works for HP and is head of the HP foundation. And also lives on the top floor of the HP house (where Mr Packard (the "P" in HP) and his wife lived in the 1930s.

The house was rebuilt from the ground up in the 1990s, from only 6 photographs, faithful to the original design and details. The living room and kitchen are museum showcases, with the original Oscillator that Hewlett and Packard built, beautifully showcased, as well as the original giant oven and rusty kettle that Mrs Packard cooked their meals in. The kitchen is also the place that the cofounders interviewed their salesman, who stayed with the pair for 45 years.

Here is a picture of the original garage, restored to its former glory. Credit to our friend Simon for all the excellent photos. I don't know how he did made evening seem like daytime.



Here are Mat and Sid Espinosa, Leslie's dear friend from HP who is soon to be Mayor of Palo Alto. Mat, against his will (Leslie and I had to beg!), gave a speech welcoming the guests to the party and, with great humility, explaining how thankful we were and lucky that we had succeeded this far in the HP tradition.



The children watching TV. It's clear that Sid has held parties here before! The two boys are Huck and Hobie Jamison, and on the far left is Miko.



Walter "Mr Skibus" and "Mr Motorcycle", our dear friend who helped us in our early days, and Julia



John (former CEO of TellMe, friend of Mat's mother and Angel Investor in Xpree), our fearless CEO and Jim (our VP of Sales)


There was plenty of Jamaican food:



Left to right:
John, Stewart (our VC), Greg (our Legal Counsel), myself and Gary (our advisor)


The famous "money shot" captured by Vahe, Leslie, Ed and Mat: