I had read somewhere that this guy's carpet shop was a hotspot for networking of high profile and wannabe tech leaders. So my query to YC and PG is Can a portion of website be kept for networking or matching of talents? A virtual space is sufficient to kick start something.

I don't think the carpet shop played a role. They owned some office space on University Ave, which they rented to startups, including I believe Google and Paypal, and got some warrants as part of the deal. This made them so excited that they decided to try to do more of that.

oh thanks for the correct info. There was an article that talked about how they owned a carpet shop in silicon valley, during the boom time many new startups went there to get some carpets. AT that time many used to go to the shop to buy carpets, and in the process meet others. This guy also would hang around the biggies and slowly started investing when he saw some potential. But this is what i had read some time back.