Small beginnings: Where the Bay Area's tech behemoths got their start We published this map during Micro Week, but let's take a trip back down memory lane and the hallowed halls of Silicon Valley history for the greatest micro tradition of them all: The humble origins of the Bay Area startup. The "humble beginnings in a garage" narrative is one of the great foundation myths of Silicon Valley. But it's not all just marketing talk—a great many of the region's biggest companies really did begin in apartments, garages, hotels, and refrigerator-sized offices in obscure buildings little more than four walls and a door before growing up to take over huge swaths of iconic real estate. Here's our survey a few of the structural saplings from which impressive, multi-billion dollar trees have grown. Soon, Salesforce will occupy nearly an entire SoMa intersection with three separate offices, one of them of course being the sky-high obelisk, Salesforce Tower. But back in 1999, founder Marc Benioff and his three employees worked out of an apartment on Telegraph Hill, right next to Benioff's own home.
"We didn't have furniture, so we used card tables and folding chairs," Benioff writes in his book about the company founding. (Tech companies love little more than talking up their threadbare origins.) Note that units in this same Telegraph Hill cluster now sell for $6.5 million. Is there any Silicon Valley success story more iconic than the storied founding of Apple in a mere garage in Los Altos? The founding Steves (Wozniak and Jobs) assembled the first Apple I board in a carport workshop in 1976. A far cry from the Norman Foster designed UFO ready to land sometime in 2017. Of course, Apple's founding Steves knew that they weren't the first would-be computing giants to take the garage path to success. David Packard and Bill Hewlett put together their first machine in a barn-like garage next to the Palo Alto house where Packard and his wife rented rooms for $45/month. Mind you, this was back in 1938. HP bought up the old place in 2000, preserving it as a museum of not only their own origins, but those of Silicon Valley as a whole.
It's also a registered California landmark. Back in 2009, future Uber CEO ubermensch Travis Kalanick was living in a house on 16th street he nicknamed the "JamPad," where he'd invite tech entrepreneur types to hang out, crash, barbecue, play video games, and pitch ideas. And it was here that "Uber Cab" first manifested as a tangible idea. Ebay (then called AuctionWeb) started up in founder Pierre Omidyar's living room in San Jose in 1995. It's first proper office to speak of, though, was a small suite on Hamilton Avenue. And they're still there--they've just branched out a bit. The old office is now known as "building number six" on the Ebay campus. Rumor has long held that Omidyar founded Ebay to help his wife with her Pez dispenser collection. But the company now says this is a myth; which is a shame, since few things have as much micro appeal as Pez. A hat trick for Silicon Valley garages, as Sergey Brin and Larry Page also put heads together in a carport in Menlo Park, rented from a future Google employee who in those days was just looking for some extra money to cover her mortgage.
Google, of course, is now as famous for its Willy Wonka-style office complex as its search engine. Tourists are so fond of photographing the place that the company asked the press to stop publishing the address. Problem is, people keep finding it on their own, via Google. Hoist by their own petard; oldest story in the book. These days, the phrase "Twitter building" evokes not just an address but a lengthy catalog of associations about San Francisco, the tech industry, the housing market, and, for certain people, proletarian rage. But before they struck the defining real estate deal of modern startup culture, Twitter worked out of a single small office in the Obvious Ventures building in the Presidio. Thanks to the Academy Award winning movie "The Social Network," everybody knows that Mark Zuckerberg took Facebook to a summer house in Palo Alto after Harvard (and also that he was mean to his college girlfriend). It looks like the house has subsequently shrank from fame, hiding behind a wall of overgrowth, but it still hosts startups for the summer.
Point number one, Silicon Valley's favorite movie deliverers/streamers/makers started out not in Silicon Valley, but closer to Santa Cruz. Point number two, a company founded on the principle of delivering movies to your home started out with no home of its own, operating out of a Best Western hotel room. Room service might not be a bad amenity for present SV HQs to emulate. Mapping the 19 high-rises under construction in San Francisco right now California storm floods: Mapping the impact across Northern California San Francisco's top 10 places for crying in public, mapped Mapping the Bay Area's most beautiful waterfalls65% Off Chemical Free Mattresses Hand Made In The U.S Non-Toxic Futon & Mattress Provides Unrivaled Comfort & Support 20% Off Modern Sofa Beds Fire Retardant Free Modern Sofa Beds & Sleepers Comfortable & Easy to Convert In Stock For The Holidays 50% Off Indoor Outdoor Futon CoversWe Lovingly Hand Stitch Every Futon Cover And Pillow, Removable and Washable A Perfect Fit Every Time.
Up To 65% Off Natural Crib Mattresses U.S. Made Coconut Coir & Wool Our Hand Made Pure & Natural Crib Mattresses are used by Montessori Schools across the US. 20% Off Natural Beds U.S. Made Natural & Chemical Free Platform Beds - Handcrafted Foundations With Perfect Support Will Last a Lifetime 60% Off Bed Pillows This Week OnlySleep as Nature Intended. Support Your Head & Neck Wake Up Feeling Great. Bed Pillows made with Organic Cotton, Natural Wool & Natural Latex 25% Off Eco-Friendly Wood Futon Sofa Bed Frames U.S. Made Amish Futon Frames Cherry & Oak Wood. Wall Huggers & Hardwood Futon Frames All On Sale. Healthy & Chemical Free Natural bed frames paired with chemical free mattresses are the perfect option for your healthy bedroom. Complementing the pair with organic cotton bed pillows and bedding allows you to sleep completely chemical free. Natural futon mats made from organic cotton, virgin wool, natural latex and coconut inserts combined with natural futon frames makes the perfect sofa sleepers for a healthy and happy home for you and your family
The Futon Shop a family owned company since 1976 maintains a high level of Eco-Consciousness to strive for a healthier future for our planet and our country. We work tirelessly towards bringing the best chemical free and eco-friendly futons, sofa beds & furniture options for the health and comfort of our customers Being in the actual store and finding out that it's an actual factory as well; I felt like I was in Disney Land! The color was true to the website color, it came in a timely fashion, it fits perfectly, it's washable, and I'm thrilled with it. We live in Virginia and have just ordered a futon online, something we at first could not imagine doing, but thanks to Lee's excellent advice and support, we felt confident in placing the order... Great prices and it was delivered within 10 days from ordering. Heavy duty fabric way more substantial than my neighbors cover for less $$$. Will be ordering more... The customer service is outstanding! My husband and I both suffer from bad backs...