Stories
Where the tools on this site actually came from — the messy parts included.
Founded 1991
The Guy Who Got Sick of Documents Looking Different on Every Computer
A 1991 memo called "Camelot" is the reason a PDF looks the same whether you open it in Harare or Tokyo.
5 min readFounded 1994
QR Codes Were Invented on a Lunch Break, Playing a Board Game
An engineer trying to speed up a Toyota factory line had his eureka moment over a game of Go — then gave the invention away for free.
5 min readFounded 2011
Before EcoCash, There Was a Five-Year Court Battle That Nearly Bankrupted Its Founder
Strive Masiyiwa fought the Zimbabwean government all the way to the Constitutional Court just to be allowed to run a phone network.
6 min readFounded 2007
M-Pesa Was Supposed to Be a Loan Repayment Tool. Users Had Other Plans.
Kenya's mobile money pilot was built for microfinance loan tracking. People just wanted to send cash to family instead.
5 min readFounded 1976
It Started With a $27 Loan to 42 People. It Became a Nobel Prize.
Muhammad Yunus lent strangers his own pocket money because the banks wouldn't. Decades later, that refusal built an entire industry.
6 min read