We Started in a Garage

Garage Where Survey Analytics Started in 2002

We recently saw a commercial by Cadillac about great companies like Amazon and Mattel that started in garages and it got us thinking about our humble beginnings. Back in 2002, we also started in a garage (pictured on the left) in Issaquah, Washington, a tiny suburb 30 minutes outside of Seattle where our HQ currently exists today.

In the spirit of honoring our roots, we've compiled a list of 4 great companies that also started in garages, complete with pictures of the actual homes they began in. Why? To remember that everything great starts from nothing.



#1: Apple - 1976

At the tender age of 21 and 26, best friends Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak came together in this garage in 1976 and created the first Apple computer in Los Altos, California. It's safe to say they probably had no idea that they were destined to be the most valuable technology company in the world later on!

#2: Hewlett-Packard - 1939 

Friends Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard founded HP in their Palo Alto garage back in 1939 with an initial investment of only $538. Interestingly enough, the first product they made was an audio oscillator. This oscillator was first sold to Walt Disney, who bought 8 of them to produce the sound for their 1940s classic film Fantasia. Not bad for their first customer!

#3: Walt Disney - 1923

In 1923, Walt Disney and his brother Roy were living with their uncle in Los Angeles, California (we're noticing a West Coast pattern here...) where they were granted use of his one-car garage in the backyard. It was in this garage that they started writing the original Disney comics, including Alice in Wonderland. 

#4: Microsoft - 1975

Bill Gates and Paul Allen came together to found Microsoft in 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Back then the nerds would skip class together to hang out in the school's computer room. Together they hacked their school's computer but instead of being expelled, they were offered unlimited computer time in exchange for helping them improve their computer system. Like every start-up, they began small, but they had a big vision.