Google began as a PhD project called BackRub. Here is how PageRank, a $100,000 cheque and a garage in Menlo Park created a giant, and what all ten giants teach us.
Amazon began in 1994 as an online bookstore run from a Seattle-area garage. Here is how long-term thinking, customer obsession and the dot-com crash shaped a giant.
Apple started with two friends, a hand-built computer board and a 50-unit order. Here is how it grew, nearly failed and returned to become a global giant.
Nike started as Blue Ribbon Sports, selling imported shoes from the back of a car. Here is how a runner, a coach and a waffle iron built one of the world's biggest brands.
Two brothers invented a fast, simple burger system. A milkshake-machine salesman turned it into a global chain. Here is the true story and the real estate secret behind it.
IKEA began in 1943 when a 17-year-old sold pens and wallets by mail from a Swedish farm. Here is how flat-packs, frugality and a supplier boycott built a global giant.
Samsung started in 1938 selling dried fish, vegetables and noodles. Here is how bold bets on electronics and memory chips turned it into a global technology giant.
A struggling Danish carpenter started making wooden toys in 1932. Here is how LEGO bet on plastic, perfected one brick and came back from the brink.
Toyota began as a loom maker. Here is how a father's invention, a son's risky bet on cars and a near-collapse in 1950 created the Toyota Production System.
