What comes to mind when you think about the biggest companies in the world? Chances are, you’re thinking of huge names in tech and online retail industries such as Apple, Amazon and Microsoft. But what if we told you that these multi-billion-pound companies actually started in a garage?
These big bosses such as Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates we know today were once normal people trying to make a living in their garages. In this list, we explore these names among others and their story from the humble beginnings of a garage to the multi-billion companies they are today.
Amazon
Now the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon was once an online bookstore, which started in Jeff Bezos’ garage after he quit his successful Wall Street job in 1994. It may have taken Bezos a whole year to sell his first book, but the business soon grew and Amazon is now valued at $300 billion, making it one of the most successful and biggest companies in the world.
Microsoft
Another tech giant started in a garage. Partners Bill Gates and Paul Allen had very few resources, but programming skills in abundance, and finally licensed their first operating system for $80,000. Fast forward a few years and Microsoft is born.
Microsoft is now worth over $400 billion and has been ruling the PC market for decades now, making Gates the world’s richest man in the process.
Apple
Apple’s first-ever office was actually Steve Jobs’ Mum’s garage in Cupertino, California. Steve Wozniak built Apple’s first computer in 1976 and sold it for $500, and when a local retailer demanded 50 computers, Wozniak and Jobs found the components and built 50 computers in 30 days.
Apple is now the world’s leader in technology and is worth over $550 billion.
Possibly the company that is the most well-known for starting out in a garage is Google. Larry Page and Sergey Brin started the company in September 1998, in the current YouTube CEO, Susan Wojcicki’s garage. It started off as a college project at Stanford, but Google is still the biggest internet giant twenty years later.
Brin and Page tried to sell Google to Excite for $1 million which they must regret now, seeing as the company is now worth over $500 billion.
Harley Davison
Did you know that the first-ever Harley Davison bike was built in a wooden shed? William Harley always wanted to build motorbikes, and as a 20-year-old, he came up with a design of an engine that could power a bicycle. Give it a couple of years, and William and his childhood friend, Arthur Davison would build their first motorcycle in a wooden shed.
The pair formally launched Harley Davison in 1903, and the company is now worth over $10 billion.
Disney
The media conglomerate that we know today actually had very humble beginnings. Walt Disney and his brother started filming the Alice Comedies in their uncle’s garage in 1923. A few months later, the brothers moved into a bigger studio down the street from their uncle’s home, where they signed a deal with Universal Studios, and the rest they say… is history.
Nothing is stopping you from being the next Amazon or Disney, all you need is a concrete garage. Get yours today, give us a call for further information on 0800 1182547.
