In 1938 Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard rented a house at 367 Addison Avenue in Palo Alto. The rent was 45 dollars a month. Packard lived there with his wife. Hewlett slept in a shed outside.
The garage behind the house served as lab, workshop, and factory. With 538 dollars of capital, the two men built their first product, an audio oscillator. A coin toss decided whose name came first.
California later named the garage a historic landmark. It is called the birthplace of Silicon Valley.