08/18//08
	5 Companies That Began As Home Businesses
	1.	Weight Watchers International. This $4 billion firm was founded more than 40 years ago by Jean Nidetch, who began inviting friends into her Queens, N.Y., home once a week to discuss how best to lose weight.
	2.	Amazon.com. Jeff Bezos started the company in 1995, and in its first 30 days of business, Amazon filled orders for customers in 50 states and 45 countries -- all shipped from Bezos' Seattle-area garage.
	3.	JibJab.com. Brothers Evan and Gregg Spiridellis wanted to create a giant, new entertainment brand and, in 1999, started JibJab in a Brooklyn garage. (Their Brooklyn office doubled as Gregg's apartment.)
	4.	Google.com. Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin developed a new approach to online search that took root in a Stanford University dorm room and quickly spread to information seekers around the globe.
	5.	Cafepress.com. Opened for business from a San Leandro, Calif., garage in 1999 with just 4 products -- a T-shirt, two mugs and a mouse pad -- the company now sells more than 150 million unique products on customizable merchandise.
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