Sunday 17 August 2014

6 $25 Billion Companies That Started in a Garage

Every new company has to begin somewhere. These 6 world-famous ones--worth more than $25 billion each--started in garages.

All of these renowned companies have proven that success truly depends on determination, faith, and hard work. No matter where you start your business or how much money you originally put into it, passion, commitment, and courage are often all you need to make your company a success.

In case you need objective proof, here are some of the biggest companies in the world, all of which were started in their founders' garages.

Google
Yes, the world's most famous search engine was actually started in a garage. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, graduates of Stanford University, rented a garage from a friend, Susan Wojcicki, in September of 1998. They worked day and night for a number of months and developed what would be known as Google. Their main goal while creating the website was to organize and maintain all kinds of information on a single platform accessible to common people all over the world. Today, Google is the most commonly used search engine in the world and has also launched other useful websites and applications like Gmail, Google+, and Google Drive.

Apple
Apple is another insanely popular international brand, but few people realize that it was started in a California garage by three young men. Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne developed the first Apple computer in 1976 in the garage of Steve Jobs' parents' house.

The Apple I was sold as a motherboard to a local store for $500 and shortly thereafter, the team continued on to create the Apple II computer. The founders' products and company became famous when they got a break from their Macintosh line of products, from which they earned millions of dollars. Now, Apple is leading a technological revolution with its various devices, including Mac computers, iPhones, iPods, and iPads.

Microsoft
Every computer user knows the Microsoft brand. It's the remarkable and famous software that was once created in a small Albuquerque garage by Bill Gates and his friend Paul Allen. Both of them gave more importance to programming language and software operations and worked in collaboration with IBM. They got their first operating system licensed for $80,000. They kept working hard and some years later they developed their most impressive and exceptional operating system, called Windows. Today, Windows is the most widely used software on the globe. About 80% of computers worldwide are running this operating system.

Amazon
Amazon.com is a well-known online shopping website that was created in 1994 as an online bookstore by Jeff Bezos. He created the website in his garage in Washington, originally investing nearly $40,000 to enable him to order, sell, and deliver books to 48 different countries. He succeeded in selling his first book in July 1995, and since then has built Amazon into the largest online shopping store in world.

Disney
Walt and Roy Disney created their first films in their uncle's garage in 1923. They started their career by creating "Alice Comedies," which were actually a part of the original Alice in Wonderland animation series. Disney faced a lot of hardships in the journey toward success and was only accepted by investors after enduring plenty of struggle and strife. Now, Disney is one of the most popular and highest-earning media houses and franchises in the world, and is the leading name in producing cartoons, children's movies, and animated films.

Hewlett-Packard (HP)
Two friends, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, founded HP in Packard's garage in 1939 with an initial investment of only $538. The product that eventually boosted their career was an audio oscillator (HP200A), which was sold to Walt Disney to improve its sound system for the movie Fantasia. Walt Disney bought eight oscillators and gave HP the biggest break of its life. Today, the Packard's garage in Palo Alto is famous as the birthplace of HP and Silicon Valley. Since its inception, HP has developed into a powerful and active company, developing various computers, laptops, and other computer-centric accessories with advanced technologies.

All of these companies started with little investment capital and small physical space, but hard work and unwavering dedication led them to huge success. With the same type of passion and determination you, too, could be the founder of the next $25B+ enterprise.
Source:http://www.inc.com/

The Good (And Not So Good) Habits of Highly Intelligent People

Being supersmart has its upside--and its downside, too.

Here's a chicken-versus-egg question for you: Do people have high IQs because they've developed certain habits, or do they develop certain habits because they have high IQs? 

I'm not sure there's an answer to that question, but people with higher IQs do tend to share certain habits--both positive and (depending on your point of view) negative. 

They're persistent. They set goals. They read a lot. And they also stay up later, tend to drink more, and tend to remain virgins longer (whether that is positive or negative is definitely a matter of perspective).

For more, check out this infographic from Visual.ly and Online-PhD-Programs.org.
The Good and Bad Habits of Smart People
Source: http://www.inc.com/