Microsoft

There may not quite as legendary a startup as Microsoft. Its cofounder and former CEO is the richest man in the world. It produces some of the most widely used and available software on the planet. Its work has simply revolutionized the world in many different aspects. Its operating system, Windows, is far and away the most popular in the world. And it all started with a few pieces of paper. Years ago, there was a computer created that claimed to be the first personal computer, the Altair 8080. For all intents and purposes, it was a personal computer. It wasn't practical, however, as everything was inputted into the machine using switches, with data coded in binary. The results would also be binary coded with a series of light bulbs. It would take about 2 minutes to calculate 2+2, using binary inputs and interpreting the outputs. It was totally impractical.  Gates' friend, Paul Allen, told him that Altair was looking for basic code to run on the machine, to allow it to be controlled with a terminal (monitor and keyboard setup). Bill Gates went to work and wrote a basic code for the machine, which essentially acted as a baseline operating system. Gates didn't have a computer to test any of the code on, so he wrote it completely on paper and debugged it that way. He then converted to code to punch paper so that it could be fed into the machine using a machine called a teletype (read punch cards and converted it to binary to feed to the machine). Paul Allen brought it to the Altair manufacturers and the code was tested for the first time. It was flawless. Allen called up Gates and told him the good news, that the code had functioned without a single error. Both of them were elated. The two decided to team up, and the first Microsoft product was born. The rest is history. Now, both Allen and Gates are multibillionaires. A bit of hard work and a unique product that fits the market can transform the world and change the lives of thousands.