Encouraged by the success of the Apple I, Jobs started looking for investments to further expand the business, but banks were reluctant to lend him money; the idea of a computer for ordinary people seemed absurd at the time. In August 1976, Jobs approached his former boss at Atari, Nolan Bushnell, who recommended that he meet with Don Valentine, the founder of Sequoia Capital. Valentine was not interested in funding Apple, but in turn introduced Jobs to Mike Markkula, a millionaire who had worked under him at Fairchild Semiconductor. Markkula, unlike Valentine, saw great potential in the two Steves, and decided to become an angel investor of their company. He invested $92,000 in Apple out of his own property while securing a $250,000 () line of credit from Bank of America. In return for his investment, Markkula received a one-third stake in Apple. With the help of Markkula, Apple Computer, Inc. was incorporated on January 3, 1977. The new corporation bought out the old partnership the two Steves formed nine months earlier.