Born in Crisis

When I was 11 years old, I landed my first job at College Town Grocery. On summer days, I would work for 12 hours mopping floors, stocking shelves, and bagging groceries. I don't recall much about the terrible recession of 1974-75 that shut the grocery down. I was only concerned that I no longer had a paycheck. But I remember the long lines of cars piled up at the gas station down the street to get fuel that was in short supply due to the Arab oil embargo. I also remember my parents frequently talking about the crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 45% and stayed down for almost two years during that recession.

What I didn't hear about at the time was the birth of start-up companies Microsoft, FedEx, Southwest Airlines, and Apple Computer. They were all created during the recession of 1974-75.

I wonder what is being created today that will shape our lives in the future...

Here are a few other companies that were started in tough times:

GENERAL ELECTRIC - 1890 Economic Collapse

IBM - 1896 Recession

GENERAL MOTORS - 1908 Market Crash

DISNEY - 1929 Great Depression

BURGER KING - 1953 Korean War

APPLE (the rebirth of the company as we know it today) - 2001 Dot Com Bubble Burst