When you think of Apple, Google, and Amazon, you probably picture trillion-dollar companies shaping our daily lives. But what’s easy to forget is that these giants started out with almost nothing—just a vision, some grit, and in most cases, a garage.
Here’s the story of how three of the world’s most influential companies grew from humble beginnings into global powerhouses.
Apple: The Garage that Changed Technology Forever
In 1976, three young men—Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne—founded Apple in a small garage in Los Altos, California.
-
Their first product, the Apple I computer, was hand-built by Wozniak and sold as a DIY kit.
-
Jobs hustled to sell the computers to local stores, while Wayne (who later sold his stake for just $800) handled paperwork.
-
The Apple II and Macintosh soon followed, making computers accessible to homes and classrooms worldwide.
Decades later, Apple revolutionized personal tech again with the iPod, iPhone, and MacBook, cementing its status as one of the most valuable companies in history.
From one garage, Apple reshaped the way billions of people work, play, and connect.
Google: From a Dorm Room Project to the World’s Search Engine
In 1996, two Stanford PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, started working on a search engine project called Backrub. Their innovation? Ranking web pages by links, which made search results far more accurate.
By 1998, they renamed it Google (inspired by the mathematical term “googol”) and set up shop in—yes, another garage. This time, it was in Menlo Park, California.
-
The garage belonged to Susan Wojcicki, who would later become CEO of YouTube.
-
Google’s clean interface and powerful search quickly outperformed competitors like Yahoo and AltaVista.
-
By the 2000s, Google expanded into maps, email, video (buying YouTube), and eventually Android, Chrome, and AI.
Today, Google is so essential that “to Google” has become a verb.
Amazon: The Bookstore That Took Over the World
In 1994, former Wall Street executive Jeff Bezos quit his job and started an online bookstore from his garage in Seattle. He called it Amazon, after the world’s largest river—because he dreamed big.
-
The first book ever sold on Amazon was shipped in 1995.
-
Bezos’ vision was to become the “everything store,” expanding from books into music, electronics, clothing, and beyond.
-
By the 2000s, Amazon Web Services (AWS) emerged, powering the internet’s infrastructure.
-
Today, Amazon dominates e-commerce, streaming, and even cloud computing.
From a scrappy startup, Amazon became one of the most disruptive forces in modern business.
Lessons from Apple, Google, and Amazon’s Rise
The garage-to-global journeys of Apple, Google, and Amazon hold valuable lessons for entrepreneurs:
-
Start small, but think big – A simple garage project can scale into a global empire.
-
Solve real problems – Apple simplified computers, Google organized the web, and Amazon made shopping easier.
-
Adapt and expand – None of them stayed limited to their first product. They grew by innovating constantly.
-
Vision matters – Each founder had a long-term dream bigger than the business they started.
Final Thoughts
Apple, Google, and Amazon may dominate the world today, but their beginnings prove one thing: every giant starts small.
So, the next time you scroll on your iPhone, search on Google, or order from Amazon, remember—it all began in a garage with an idea.
And maybe, just maybe, the next trillion-dollar company is being built in someone’s garage right now.
