According to a story that has often been repeated in the media, Hurley and Chen developed the idea for YouTube during the early months of 2005, after they had experienced difficulty sharing videos that had been shot at a dinner party at Chen's apartment in San Francisco.
Menurut cerita yang berulang-ulang diterbitkan di media, Hurley dan Chen mengembangkan ide YouTube pada bulan-bulan pertama tahun 2005 setelah mengalami kesulitan saat berbagi video pesta makan malam di apartemen Chen di San Francisco.