Red Bull : In 1984, Dietrich Mateschitz, an Austrian who was traveling through Thailand, drank a bottle of Krating Daeng, an energy drink popular with the country’s public transportation drivers and other workers enduring long working hours. When Mateschitz’ jet lag was cured by the small drink, he set up a company in Austria to sell it. We now know Krating Daeng as Red Bull.
Lyft:
Logan Green was traveling with a friend through Africa when he observed locals in Zimbabwe using crowdsourced carpool networks. Called kombis, these cars could be anything – pickup trucks, minibuses – whatever was available was turned into a mode of public transportation. Inspired by this concept, Green started a company called Zimride, which offered long-distance carpooling between college campuses. Zimride would later evolve into ride-sharing company, Lyft.
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