COMPANY FILE · EST. 1984

Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems was founded in 1984 around the idea of connecting geographically separate computer networks with multiprotocol routers. The founders’ networking work had roots at Stanford, but the company’s story is not simply a university invention: it also reflects the emerging market for internetworking products and the rapid spread of commercial networking. Cisco became one of the companies that built the infrastructure of the internet era.