#45 Built From Scratch: How A Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion

The creation of the Home Depot began with two words in the spring of 1978. You're fired. Twenty years ago we were two out of work executives. Our situation was not a lot different than millions of others who were shown the door. We had little in the way of capital.

and face some daunting personal and legal challenges. As we tried to get our careers back on track. In our early years we lived on the edge. With no balance sheet and a lack of financing. It took great romancing to establish the vendor base necessary to open and maintain the broad product selection for which we quickly became known.

We were always pushing boundaries beyond where our industry's conventional wisdom suggested we could go. Building the home depot was a tough uphill battle. From the day we started in a Los Angeles coffee shop. Shortly after we were fired. No one believed we could do it.

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