The Outsider 89
on continuing to provide new and innovative
features in the years to come.^262The 1996 version of the Zip2 website featured a blue
logo, which consisted of a running person where the legs
form a lightning. You could search on the site, and the
main heading said, “Search accurately for over 16 million
businesses in the USA...” Zip2’s Management Team page
revealed that, “Elon published his first computer program
at age 12 and four years later achieved the highest possible
grade in the IBM aptitude test for engineers.”^262
Zip2 rented an office in Mountain View, California. The
monthly rent was about $450, and it had a leaky roof. “It
was just the nastiest place you can imagine,” Elon said. “It
was way cheaper than a garage. Garages are expensive.”
They didn’t have a home to live in because the apartment
was more expensive compared with the office, so they got
rid of the apartment. “When you are first starting out you
really need to make your burn-rate ridiculously tiny,” Elon
said. “Don’t spend more than you are sure you have.”^436
They tried to repair the roof, and during the night they
slept in the office on futon sofas, which is a Japanese type
of furniture that easily transforms from bed to sofa. The
futons were placed in the meeting room. To shower, they
went to the El Camino YMCA. The facilities included a
gym where they exercised, so they were all in good shape.
Regular exercises were a good idea since they frequently
ate at the low-cost fast-food restaurants Jack in the Box
and White Castle.4,71,258,264
One floor below Zip2’s windowless office, a smaller