Apple, HP, Dell, Google, Nike..From garage to global....

From garage to global prominence

Some of the world's biggest companies inspire us with their improbable rags-to-riches stories.
By Meredith Margrave, Investing Answers

Hewlett-Packard

In 1939, two electrical engineering graduates from Stanford, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, established an electronics manufacturing company in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, Calif. The partners flipped a coin to decide whether the company would be named Packard-Hewlett or Hewlett-Packard. With an initial investment of $538, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) was born.Widely recognized as the symbolic founder of Silicon Valley, Hewlett-Packard was incorporated on Aug. 18, 1947, and went public on Nov. 6, 1957. The founders experienced financial success early on, attracting customers including Walt Disney (DIS). But they were originally a bit unfocused, with product offerings that crossed over into the agriculture sector. They eventually decided to focus on high-quality electronics.

To this day, Hewlett-Packard is known for not only its electronics but also its unique company culture -- "the HP Way."

Dell

The University of Texas at Austin campus is known for stimulating the minds of its undergraduates -- the grassy fields, the sprawling trees and the traditional architecture of the revered halls are all filled with inspiration. But Michael Dell didn't have his revelation in a classroom. He found it in his dorm room.It was in room 2713 that he ran his informal business of building and selling custom-designed personal computers under the name PCs Limited.By selling directly to customers, Dell cut out the middleman and kept prices lower than his competition. That bright idea set the young entrepreneur apart, and the 19-year-old dropped out of school and moved his business to an office center that he purchased with his profits.

Dell (DELL) is now one of the largest tech companies in the world.

Nike

Before it became the world's leading supplier of athletic gear, Nike (NKE) wasn't Nike -- it was Blue Ribbon Sports. And for the first two years, you couldn't find it at any retailer. Blue Ribbon Sports operated exclusively out of the trunk of Phil Knight's green Plymouth Valiant. That's right, Nike started in the trunk of a car.Blue Ribbon Sports was founded in January 1964 by two University of Oregon men -- track athlete Knight and his coach, Bill Bowerman. The company originally operated as a distributor for Japanese shoemaker Onitsuka Tiger. While Knight sold shoes at track meets, Bowerman, always on the lookout for a competitive edge, was ripping them apart to see how he could make them lighter and better. He recruited his runners to test his designs.

In 1966, the two opened the company's first retail store, in Santa Monica, Calif., and business grew quickly. Blue Ribbon Sports split from Onitsuka Tiger and launched its own line of footwear, bearing a newly designed "swoosh." The Nike name was adopted in 1978.

Google

"On September 7, 1998, Google opened its door in Menlo Park, California. The door came with a remote control, as it was attached to the garage of a friend who sublet space to the new corporation's staff of three."  -- Google's corporate history

Just days before that garage door opened, Google (GOOG) co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin moved out of dorm rooms (both were working toward doctorates at Stanford), incorporated the Google name and finished raising $1 million from a handful of investors.A friend of Brin's, Susan Wojcicki (now a Google vice president), needed help paying the mortgage on her 1,900-square-foot home in Menlo Park, and she agreed to lease the garage for $1,700 per month to the 25-year-olds.

For the five months Google operated out of Wojcicki's garage, Page and Brin alternated between tinkering with their search engine's now-legendary algorithm, soaking in the hot tub and raiding the refrigerator for midnight snacks -- a habit that may have inspired Google's free-food policy for its employees.By the end of 1998, Google (still in beta mode) had indexed nearly 60 million pages and was being praised for providing better search results than its competitors.

The company moved out of Wojcicki's garage in March 1999, and, after quickly outgrowing three other locations, settled down at the 26-acre complex fondly referred to as the "Googleplex."On the company's eighth birthday, Google purchased the garage (and the attached home) and plans on preserving it as part of its legacy.

Dyson

Just as Nike was getting its official start, Dyson was coming into being across the pond. In a dirty living room.In 1978, inventor James Dyson was growing increasingly frustrated with his Hoover vacuum cleaner. As he tried to clean his living room, dust clogged the mesh pores of the bag and blocked airflow, causing the machine to lose suction power. Even emptying the bag didn't help. Tired and frustrated, he set to work on developing a more efficient vacuum cleaner.Dyson noticed that large industrial cyclones were removing sawdust from the air. Inspired, he dismantled his Hoover machine and fitted it with a cardboard re-creation of the sawmill cyclones. During his initial tests, Dyson found his cardboard prototype picked up more dust than his bag model.For five years, Dyson faced rejection from every major vacuum manufacturer. He and his wife were seriously in debt, and they even began growing their own vegetables and sewing their own clothes to support the ongoing project.A determined Dyson persevered, and he went on to manufacture, market and sell his design. Today, Dyson is one of the most widely recognized appliance manufacturers, constantly wowing consumers with innovative and stylish solutions to everyday problems.

Apple

On April 1, 1976, three young men established a startup inside a garage in Cupertino, Calif. Their vision was to set off a personal computer revolution. The result was the hand-built Apple I personal computer kit. Their names: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne (who left the company in 1977, selling his stake for a mere $800).The bare-bones Apple I was first sold in 1976. The Apple II came out shortly thereafter, with color graphics and an open architecture, helping distinguish Apple's products from those of its competitors.

But it wasn't until Apple launched the Macintosh line -- with its famous "1984" commercial (watch it here) -- that the company experienced a watershed moment that led to its eventual success.Over the decades, Apple (AAPL) has established a unique reputation throughout the consumer electronics industry by expanding its product offerings with the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

Mattel

Shortly after the end of World War II, Ruth and Elliot Handler started a company named Mattel in their Southern California garage. Although we all know Mattel (MAT) as the maker of Barbie and other toys, its first products were picture frames. As a side business, Elliot used scraps from the frames to make dollhouse furniture. Encouraged by the success of this endeavor, the Handlers steered Mattel toward toys.In 1955, Mattel began to introduce its toys through advertising on the "Mickey Mouse Club" television show. Soon after, in 1959, Ruth Handler established the Barbie product line that would turn the company into a household name.

Mattel would go on to create or buy additional product lines, including Fisher Price, Hot Wheels, Matchbox cars, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls and an extensive line of board games, including Scrabble, Uno and Scene It.
http://money.msn.com/investment-advice/from-garage-to-global-prominence