While I do "require" a background write up most fold handle it in a few paragraphs. Most time this is less than a page of typed text. Some go overboard and I have been know to hand a GM a background of several pages with relative (living and dead), allies, foes, likes, dislike and the like. While I am sure most go under the bird cage so to speak. It does give a starting point and allows integration into the group easier.
While I have had players give me a background like "I am Krak. I hit things!" Krak finds himself with only access to the most basic things. His (or her) gear is of low quality and they have no contacts in the starting village. I might even prevent them from having an heirloom type item.
Now if the person gives me something to work with (3-4 simple paragraphs), they start with normal gear of medium quality. And normally I give them some sort of a contact in the starting town. "You have heard that the evening bartender, Fat Maurice, often knows of jobs that need....discretion."
The person that goes overboard does not receive anything more to start. But they might have friends and family woven into the story. "Your sister, Kela, has been kidnapped. No one knows anything. But you know a person that has his fingers on the dark pulse of the underworld. A bartender at the Hanged Man, named Fat Maurice."
In the later two characters I might drop hints of rumors of items of magic and power. These could be used as the start of quests.
-BP