Companies that Hatched Surprisingly

P & G

Procter & Gamble, popularly known as P & G, was the venture started in 1837 by two sons-in-law: William Procter, a candle maker, and James Gamble, a soap maker. When their father-in-law saw that both of them were competing for the same raw materials, he suggested them to team up. The sons-in-law found the idea innovative and the company was formed in Cincinnati, which was meatpacking centre from where they were sure to get the fat and oil they needed to make their soaps and candles. Thanks to the old man! Today the company is making a whole range of personal health care, household, sanitary and food products that are one of the largest brands in the industry.

Nokia

One of the top mobile-phone manufacturers of the day, Nokia, most surprisingly, was a paper mill originally when the company got started in 1865 by Fredrik Idestam on the banks of Tammerkoski. The company then bounced over different industries starting with an electronic department established in 1960s, which sold and operated computers. Two year later, it started creating pulse analyzer for nuclear power plants and it was not until the late 1970s that the company started making mobile phone equipment. Nokia launched its first portable phone, Mobira Talkman in 1984; and we know the rest of the story.