It’s one of Silicon Valley’s favorite myths — and it happens to be true: some of the most powerful companies on Earth started in garages, sheds, and spare bedrooms. No funding. No office. Just an idea, grit, and a workspace that smelled like gasoline or printer ink.
From Apple to Amazon, here are the legendary companies that prove you don’t need much to start — just a big enough vision.
Apple
In 1976, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne started Apple in Jobs’ family garage in Los Altos, California. Their goal? To build and sell the Apple I computer — a simple machine that would help people bring computing into the home.
That humble garage became the birthplace of what is now a $3 trillion company, reshaping how the world communicates and creates.
Before it became the world’s default search engine, Google was a project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Stanford PhD students who launched it from a rented garage in Menlo Park in 1998. The algorithm they created in that cramped space didn’t just index the internet — it changed it forever.
Their “garage hack” became the brain behind nearly every search you make today.
Amazon
In 1994, Jeff Bezos started Amazon as an online bookstore from the garage of his Bellevue, Washington home. With doors stacked as desks and cables running everywhere, Bezos began the company that would go on to transform e-commerce, logistics, and cloud computing.
Today, Amazon is one of the most powerful companies on Earth — but it started with boxes of books and a single computer.
Disney
Yes, even Walt Disney started small. In 1923, he launched what would become The Walt Disney Company from his uncle’s garage in Los Angeles. There, he filmed the “Alice Comedies” that laid the groundwork for his animation empire.
From cartoons to a multibillion-dollar media empire, Disney’s story began with a dream and a camera in a garage.
Harley-Davidson
In 1903, William S. Harley and the Davidson brothers — Arthur, Walter, and William A. Davidson — began building their first motorized bicycle in a 10-by-15-foot wooden shed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, using hand tools and scrap metal. That humble workshop bore the name “Harley-Davidson Motor Company” scrawled on the door. Their early prototype evolved into a powerful machine that captured the imagination of a nation.
Over time, Harley-Davidson became more than just a motorcycle manufacturer — it emerged as a global symbol of rebellion, freedom, and American craftsmanship, influencing generations of bikers and pop culture.
Mattel
Toy giant Mattel was founded in 1945 by Harold “Matt” Matson and Elliot Handler in a small workshop behind a house. They started by making picture frames — then pivoted to dollhouse furniture from the leftover scraps.
That pivot eventually led to creating Barbie, and later a toy empire known in nearly every household.
Hewlett-Packard (HP)
Widely considered the original Silicon Valley garage startup, HP was founded in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California, with just $538 in startup capital. Their first product, a precision audio oscillator, was sold to Walt Disney Studios, which used it in the production of Fantasia.
The modest garage at 367 Addison Avenue has since become a symbol of innovation and is officially recognized as a California Historical Landmark — often referred to as “the birthplace of Silicon Valley.” HP’s early success set the tone for the region’s culture of engineering, risk-taking, and entrepreneurship.
Dell
Michael Dell started building and selling PCs from his college dorm, but the real growth came when he began assembling them out of a garage in Austin, Texas in the 1980s.
His direct-to-consumer model disrupted traditional retail and helped make Dell a leader in personal computing.
Microsoft
In 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen launched Microsoft from a small garage in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after reading about the MITS Altair 8800 — one of the first personal computers. Their first product was a BASIC interpreter designed for the Altair, coded in a rush and delivered on a promise before it was even fully built.
Operating with minimal resources and sleeping on floors, the duo laid the foundation for what would become the dominant software company of the PC era. Their garage hustle would eventually reshape the digital world — bringing Windows, Office, and the concept of personal computing into homes and offices worldwide.
Conclusion
These aren’t just anecdotes — they’re blueprints. A reminder that the perfect office, the perfect investor, or the perfect conditions aren’t required. These companies started where they were, with what they had.
The garage, it turns out, is less about the physical space — and more about a mindset. Build first. Polish later. Dream always.
So if you’re waiting for a better time to start — maybe it’s already here.
Prepared by Navruzakhon Burieva
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