Today, I decided to show everyone where 15 top internet businesses started. It shows you that you don’t have to start with an office. A good number started from dorm rooms and their bedrooms with just a laptop – so stop dreaming and start achieving!
When I started my first internet business, I was still at school and was only 15 years old. I would work from anywhere possible to realise my dream of becoming a young millionaire. I would work from school, my bedroom, internet cafes, and even at friends’ houses.
In 2024, we are not limited by location or investment; we are only limited by our dreams, ambitions, and time.
Where 15 Famous Companies Got Started
1) Where Facebook Was Started
Who founded Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg
Place where Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook: In his Harvard Dorm Room
In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg and his college roommates founded Facebook while studying at Harvard University. He got into limelight when he refused $1 billion offer from Yahoo. Later on he sold a 1.6{e6a1e97ec1a15155ca0ed8c3e87721e561c99ed6e52274045963a20278fc2089} stake in Facebook to Microsoft for $240 million, raising the valuation to $15 billion. Since then, the social media platform has grown exponentially, with a current market value of over $1 trillion. In addition to Facebook, Zuckerberg has also acquired and founded other successful companies, contributing to his estimated net worth of $185 billion.
2) Where Google Was Started
Who founded Google: Larry Page and Sergey Brin
Place Larry and Sergey started Google: In a garage
In 1998, Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in a humble garage. They started with a simple mission: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Today, Larry Page’s net worth is around $142.5 billion, while Sergey Brin’s net worth is around $136.6 billion. Over the years, Google’s valuation has grown tremendously, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world. Despite their success, Larry and Sergey remain humble and committed to their original mission of making the world a better place through technology.
Initially, Larry Page and Sergey Brin named their search engine “BackRub,” but later on, they decided to change its name. After brainstorming, they came up with the name “Google,” which was a play on the word “googol.” Googol is a mathematical term that represents the number one followed by 100 zeros. The name reflected their mission to organize and make accessible an enormous amount of information on the internet.
The Garage Google Was Started In
3) Where Uber Was Started
Who founded Uber: Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick
Place where they started the business: Coworking space operated by Rocket Space in San Francisco
Current valuation of Uber: $155 billion
Uber was co-founded by Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick in 2009. The idea for Uber was born when the two founders couldn’t find a cab on a snowy evening in Paris. In the picture showing Uber’s first office (see below), two days before they launched, the team can be seen working on finalizing the app and making last-minute preparations. Despite facing initial resistance from regulatory authorities and taxi companies, Uber launched on March 31, 2009, as UberCab in San Francisco, and the rest is history. Today, Uber has transformed the transportation industry worldwide with its innovative ride-hailing platform.
4) Where Stripe Was Started
Who founded Stripe: Patrick and John Collison
Place where they started the business: In their office
Current valuation of Stripe: $65 billion
Stripe was founded in 2010 by Patrick and John Collison. The company was initially based in a small office in Palo Alto, California, where the brothers worked day and night to build their payment platform. Despite the modest surroundings, the Collison brothers were able to attract top engineering talent to help create and build their product. The office served as the starting point for many ideas and features that have made Stripe successful today. As the company grew, it expanded its presence with larger offices. Still, the humble beginnings in that small office were instrumental in shaping the company’s culture and innovative approach to payments.
5) Where Threadless Was Started
Who founded Threadless: Jack Nickell along with Jacob Dehart
Place started the business: From a studio apartment
Jack Nickell along with Jacob Dehart ( both college dropouts ), started threadless when they were still working on their regular job. Both the partners put a modest $500 as their initial investment. Now the company has annual revenue to the extent of $50 million.
Where Threadless.com Was Started
6) Where Airbnb Was Started
Founder: Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia.
Place started the business: From Brian and Joes apartment
In 2008, Airbnb was established in a small apartment. Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, the co-founders, came up with the idea of renting out air mattresses in their San Francisco apartment to accommodate attendees of a design conference who couldn’t find hotel accommodations. Recognizing the potential of their idea, they joined forces with Nathan Blecharczyk, expanding the concept into the global platform that we are familiar with today. This innovative solution to the lack of lodging during the conference eventually grew into the widely-used home-sharing service Airbnb, which has revolutionized how people travel and find accommodations. It took three years for Airbnb to become a billion dollar company, making it one of the quickest overnight success stories in internet history.
7) Where Digg Was Started
Who founded Digg: Kevin Rose
Where Kevin founded Digg: In his apartment.
Originally was going to be called “Diggnation”, but Kevin Rose wanted a simpler name. He chose the name “Digg”, because users are able to “dig” stories, out of those submitted, up to the front page. The site was called “Digg” instead of “Dig” because the domain name “dig.com” had been previously registered by the Walt Disney Internet Group.
Where Digg.com Was Started
8) Where PlentyOfFish Was Started
Founder: Markus Frind
Place started the business: In his office
Back in 2001 after his birthday someone in the office introduced him to online dating sites. He went back to his desk and checked out udate.com and kiss.com and lavalife/web personals. He was bored and He wanted to chat with people. He was really annoyed when he found out you had to pay for everything, he ended up telling the girl who introduced him to the sites that he could do better and make them for free, so he went and registered Plentyoffish.com.
Where PlentyOfFish.com Was Started
9) Where Salesforce Was Started
Who Founded Salesforce: Marc Benioff
Where Marc started Salesforce: In a rented apartment in San Francisco.
Salesforce is a cloud-based software company that was founded in 1999 by Marc Benioff. The company started life in a rented apartment in San Francisco, with just a handful of employees. Despite initial scepticism from investors, the company quickly gained traction and grew rapidly. Today, Salesforce is a leading provider of cloud-based CRM services, with over 150,000 customers worldwide.
As of 2024, Salesforce has reported annual revenues of $21 billion. Marc Benioff, the company’s founder and CEO, has a net worth of nearly $10 billion and is considered one of the most influential figures in the tech industry.
Salesforce has, of course, moved to a much better office. Its design reflects its culture of inclusivity, collaboration, and innovation, with flexible spaces, movable walls and furniture, amenities, and an Ohana floor to foster community and communication among employees.
10) Where YouTube Was Started
Youtube Founders: Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim
Where Chad, Steve and Jawed founded Youtube: In his office
YouTube was founded by three former PayPal employees, Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim in February 2005. The company was created in a small office in San Mateo, California. They registered the domain name YouTube.com on February 14, 2005, and launched the website in May 2005.
Following a dinner party, where Hurley and Chen were eager to find a simpler way to share their videos of the night, they quickly got to work in their office to develop a solution. “We began developing the product in February,” recalled Hurley. “In May, we offered our first public preview. By December, we officially launched YouTube and were already serving over three million videos a day.”
In October 2006, Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock, making it one of the largest acquisitions in the tech industry at the time. The founders continued to work at YouTube for some time after the acquisition before moving on to other ventures.
Where YouTube.com Was Started
11) Where Tencent Was Started
Tencents founders: Ma Huateng (also known as Pony Ma), Zhang Zhidong, Chen Yidan, Xu Chenye, and Liu Chiping
Place started the business: From an office
Current valuation of Tencent: $450 billion
Tencent was founded in November 1998 by five co-founders, including current CEO Ma Huateng. The company started in an ordinary office building in Shenzhen, China, with a focus on providing Internet value-added services. Over the years, Tencent grew rapidly and expanded its services to become one of the largest and most innovative technology companies in the world. Today, Tencent’s headquarters is located in one of the coolest offices in the world, known for its unique and futuristic design, reflecting the company’s forward-thinking approach to technology and innovation.
12) Where Amazon Was Started
Who founded Amazon: Jeff Bezos
Where Jeff Bezos founded Amazon: in his garage at home.
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in his garage in Seattle in 1994 with the goal of creating an online bookstore. Today, Bezos is worth a staggering $198 billion, and Amazon has become one of the largest and most successful companies in the world. Amazon’s success can be attributed to its innovative business model, which focuses on customer satisfaction, a vast selection of products, and fast, reliable shipping.
Amazon generates more than $1 billion in revenue daily, offering everything from books and electronics to clothing and groceries. With its continued growth and expansion into new markets, it’s clear that Amazon is a force to be reckoned with in the world of e-commerce and beyond.
13) Where eBay Was Started
Founder: Pierre Omidyar
Where Pierre started eBay: In the home of Pierre Omidyar.
In 1995, eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in San Jose, California. Omidyar, an Iranian-American entrepreneur, created the online marketplace as a side project while working for a software development company.
The first name eBay used was Echo Bay Technology. When the company tried registering the domain name echobay.com, they found it was already in use. They shortened the name to eBay.com, and the website was born.
Today, eBay is one of the world’s largest e-commerce platforms, with a revenue of $59 billion in 2023. Despite leaving the company in 2015, Omidyar remains a significant shareholder and is worth an estimated $6.4 billion. His vision for an online marketplace where people could buy and sell goods continues to shape how we shop today.
Where eBay.com Was Started
14) Where LinkedIn Was Started
Who founded LinkedIn: Reid Hoffman
Place started the business: In the living room
In 2003, LinkedIn was founded and launched on May 5th, which was playfully referred to as “Cinco de LinkedIn” by the employees. The founders invited around 350 of their most significant contacts to join the site. Within the first month of operation, LinkedIn had already gained 4,500 members in the network.
The initial idea was to create a professional networking site to connect people in the business world. Since then, LinkedIn has grown into a global platform with over 700 million members and was sold to Microsoft in 2016 for a staggering $26.2 billion.
Today, cofounder Reid Hoffman is worth around $2.5 billion, thanks to his successful venture and other investments. LinkedIn’s valuation has grown exponentially over the years, making it one of the most successful social media platforms ever created.
Where Linkedin.com Was Started
15. Where Alibaba Was Started
Who founded Alibaba: Jack Ma and Widarto Oey
Place Jack and Widarto started Alibaba: In Jack’s apartment
Jack Ma and Widarto Oey, along with 17 friends and students, founded Alibaba.com, a China-based B2B marketplace site, in Jack Ma’s Hangzhou apartment in 1999. The idea was born out of the desire to create a platform to facilitate trade between small and medium-sized enterprises in China and worldwide. They envisioned a platform that would utilize the power of the internet to connect buyers and sellers in a previously impossible way.
Despite facing significant challenges and scepticism, the team worked tirelessly to build and launch the platform, eventually gaining traction and transforming the e-commerce landscape in China and globally. The founding of Alibaba.com marked the beginning of a transformative journey that would establish Jack Ma as one of the most influential figures in the global technology and e-commerce industry.
I hope the list has inspired you and has made it clear you can start anywhere!
Where did you start you first business?
Read more: ‘Top 20 Most Awesome Company Offices’
