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Vishu Bheda
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Medial • 4d
Elon Musk on building his first startup Zip2 In 1995, at just 24, Elon Musk dropped out of Stanford’s PhD program to start Zip2 with his brother Kimbal. That summer, Elon personally coded the first online national maps and directories using C and a little C++—a groundbreaking innovation at the time. Living on a tight budget, Elon chose to live in their $200/month Silicon Valley office, which had a leaky roof. He even showered at the YMCA. As he described in an interview, "We picked the office because it was cheap and had an internet provider below us. We drilled a hole in the floor to connect directly to their servers for cheap internet." Elon’s vision for the internet was clear. In 1996 he predicted: "The internet will be the superset of all media—print, radio, TV—all will merge into it. It’s the first two-way, intelligent communication medium." In February 1999, just a few years later, Zip2 was sold to Compaq for $307 million, launching Elon’s remarkable journey into tech and entrepreneurship. Elon Musk's early struggles show that big successes often start with tough beginnings. His journey reminds us that perseverance, vision, and creativity can turn challenges into game-changing opportunities. Keep pushing—your breakthrough could be closer than you think.
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