The term was popularised by the 18th Century satirist Jonathan Swift in his classic novel, Gulliver's Travels. "We were certainly not sophisticated or civilised," Mr Yang told reporters ahead of the anniversary, which will be officially recognised on 2 March. They did have business brains however, and in April 1995 persuaded venture capitalists Sequoia Capital, which also invested in Apple Computer and Cisco Systems, to fund Yahoo to the tune of $2m. A second round of funding followed in the autumn and the company floated in April 1996 with fewer than 50 employees. Now the firm employs 7,600 workers and insists its dot-com culture of work hard, play hard still remains.