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Curated category

1980s initial public offerings

  • MicrosoftThe January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics put a microcomputer called the Altair 8800 on its cover, and two childhood friends saw an opening.
  • Nike, Inc.Nike, Inc. began not in a boardroom but out of the trunk of a car. Phil Knight, a University of Oregon track athlete, and his coach Bill Bowerman started…
  • SegaSega is a Japanese video game company whose history reads like a map of the entire industry's evolution. It began not with video games at all, but with slot…
  • Apple Inc.Apple Inc. started with two men selling everything they owned. Steve Jobs sold his Volkswagen Bus. Steve Wozniak sold his HP-65 calculator.
  • AmgenIn April 1980, a small group of venture capitalists gathered in Thousand Oaks to establish Applied Molecular Genetics. This entity would soon change its name…
  • Home DepotHome Depot opened its first two stores on the 22nd of June 1979, in leased spaces in metro Atlanta that had previously housed Treasure Island hypermarket…
  • KonamiKonami began life on the 21st of March 1969 as a jukebox rental and repair shop in Toyonaka, Osaka. Three men started it together, two of whom had met while…
  • NamcoNamco started with two hand-cranked rocking horses on a department store rooftop in Yokohama. Masaya Nakamura, the son of a shotgun repair business owner…
  • Scholastic CorporationMaurice R. Robinson stood near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1920 to launch a small publishing venture. The first publication was The Western Pennsylvania…
  • Tiffany & Co.Tiffany & Co. began its life in 1837 not as a jeweler but as a stationery and fancy goods emporium, funded by just $1,000 borrowed from a cotton mill owner.