Several famous companies are associated with a garage, living room or attic in their origin stories. Those locations represent a modest beginning, but do not explain later success on their own. Here are the businesses discussed and the context needed to interpret the stories.
Being students, Larry Page and Sergey Bri started the Google search engine in 1996 from their first office, in a ‘garage box’ in Susan Wojcicki’s house. This house was then rented out by Susan herself in order to be able to make mortgage payments. In 22 years, their company has grown from 3 to 114,000 employees. The core values with which the founders have made this a giant company are: freedom, creativity and innovation. Anyone who has ‘Googled’: Google offices, will see how this is reflected in all 70 breath-taking and modern offices, in 50 countries.
YouTube
The growth of something completely unknown, to a showpiece from Google. This is what three young entrepreneurs Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim managed to do. They started their video platform from an old and dirty upstairs room above a Pizzeria. The reason they eventually had to leave this ‘office’ was a rat problem. The big breakthrough of YouTube was in 2005, when the first video was uploaded by one of the founders. More than twenty years later, this video has been watched by more than 93 million people.
The founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman, started the largest business online platform not from his attic, but from his living room. Today, with more than 6000 employees and more than 675 million members, LinkedIn continues to grow. Today, Reid Hoffman advises other startups on how to be successful and invests in plans he believes in himself.
When to switch to an office space?
In the transition from a startup to a mature company, you go through different phases. But when is the turning point? Sometimes having an office space offers several advantages, such as less travel time for meetings, growth opportunities and a professional appearance. Do you have doubts about what kind of space is best suited to the status of your organisation? There are various professional office brokers to advise you on this.
Success stories by corporate startups
Just as a success story can begin in the attic room, a new concept can also be born in the workplace of an already existing multinational. An example is Tellow, a smart accounting software developed by the Dutch Rabobank. This administrative app that makes the administrative life of freelancers easier, has been developed by a large corporate and is therefore called: a corporate startup.
What these stories do not prove
A garage or attic is a memorable setting, not a formula for success. These companies also relied on skills, networks, capital, market timing and many difficult decisions. Employee and audience figures in the article reflect its publication period and should be checked before reuse.
