Hewlett-Packard
HP
Founded by Stanford graduates Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in a rented one-car garage at 367 Addison Avenue, with $538 in capital and a coin toss to decide whose name came first.
Founded1939
HeadquartersPalo Alto, CA
IndustryComputing / Instruments
The garage at 367 Addison Avenue, Palo Alto — "Birthplace of Silicon Valley" · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Overview
HP became the archetypal Silicon Valley company.
Founders
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard
Founded 1939
Landmark Achievements
- Its first product, the HP 200A audio oscillator, was bought by Walt Disney Studios to help produce the film Fantasia.
- The Addison Avenue garage is a California Historical Landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as “the Birthplace of Silicon Valley.”
- Pioneered the “HP Way” management culture and later the handheld scientific calculator and mass-market inkjet/laser printers.
Hewlett-Packard's place in the story
Continue through the chronicle — the builders of American technology, in founding order.