S01E01Those Meddling Kids Get Started

Daphne's father, George, is credited with giving the gang a check (made out to "Mysteries, Inc.") for one hundred dollars to get them started, but since they didn't have a car at the time, they paid their parents gas money to drive them around. Unfortunately, that seems to have limited their mystery solving abilities, as Daphne's father is shown refusing to drop them off at a haunted house. Shaggy is credited with finding the Mystery Machine, which Daphne seems indifferent about. Once they acquired the van, they are said to have "skyrocketed to fame, setting new precedents for the whole crime-solving industry". The gang attributes their success to not waiting for mysteries to come to them, but by going out and finding the monsters on their own.