Cisco Systems
Founded by Stanford staff (and married couple) Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner, who commercialized multi-protocol router technology developed at Stanford.
Founded1984
HeadquartersMenlo Park, CA
IndustryNetworking
Cisco Systems Building 10, San Jose main campus · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Overview
Cisco became the backbone supplier of the internet.
Founders
Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner
Founded December 1984
Landmark Achievements
- Shipped one of the first commercial multi-protocol routers (1986), enabling disparate computer networks to interconnect.
- Its networking hardware became critical internet infrastructure; at the 2000 dot-com peak Cisco briefly became the world's most valuable company.
- Named for San Francisco; its logo depicts the Golden Gate Bridge.
Cisco Systems's place in the story
Continue through the chronicle — the builders of American technology, in founding order.