By: John S. Morlu II, CPA
Once upon a time, in garages and dorm rooms, some very sleep-deprived nerds built empires.
Today, those nerds wear custom leather jackets (Jensen Huang), black turtlenecks from beyond the grave (Steve Jobs), and run companies worth more than entire countries. Literally.
Apple. Nvidia. Microsoft. Amazon. Google.
These are not just companies.
They are trillion-dollar monsters.
And no — this didn’t happen by luck, fairy dust, or coffee alone.
Let’s break it down, 8th grade style, with a mix of truth, fun facts, satire, and a brutally honest look at why you probably won’t build the next one (unless you change everything).
💻 Fun Fact #1: Jensen Huang’s company Nvidia made more money than Coca-Cola… selling invisible stuff.
Yep. Not soda. Not burgers. Chips. Not potato chips — computer chips.
Nvidia makes the magic brains that power AI, self-driving cars, and even your TikTok filters.
He started it in 1993. People thought he was nuts. He just kept grinding.
Fast forward 30 years: Nvidia became a $3 TRILLION company — that’s bigger than Amazon.
UPDATE: Actually, Nvidia didn’t stop there. In July 2025, Nvidia officially hit $4 TRILLION in market value — making it the most valuable company in the world, briefly beating both Apple and Microsoft.
And the crazy part? Over 97% of the AI chips used by the biggest companies — OpenAI, Meta, Google, Amazon — come from Nvidia.
It’s the plumbing behind the entire AI revolution.
Fun Fact #1: Jensen used to wash dishes in a Denny’s. He founded NVIDIA with threes at Denny’s table after work. Today, he could buy Denny’s, build 1,000 more, and throw in free GPUs with every pancake.
🍏 Fun Fact #2: Apple almost died.
In the 1990s, Apple was so close to going broke that they had to get a loan from… Microsoft.
Yes, the enemy. The archrival. The software empire.
But then Steve Jobs came back, wore his black turtleneck, and said,
“Let’s make something people don’t know they want — until they can’t live without it.”
Boom. iPod. Then iPhone. Then world domination.
Apple is now worth over $3.5 TRILLION.
That’s more than the GDP of India. Let that sink in.
More Fun: Apple’s cash reserves alone are bigger than the national budgets of most countries. If Apple were a country, it could fund a moon landing, a healthcare system, and a national space agency — and still buy Disney.
💡 Brutal Truth #1: They sacrificed everything for it.
While most people want a 4-day work week and “work-life balance,”
guys like Jensen, Gates, Bezos and Jobs were working 90-hour weeks, sleeping under their desks, and eating stress for breakfast.
Jensen didn’t go to Davos to mingle. He went to data centers to strategize.
Jobs didn’t check work-life balance. He redefined life itself around his work.
You want to build a trillion-dollar company?
Cancel brunch. Say goodbye to Netflix. Fire your excuses. Marriage and girlfriend breakups.
🤯 Fun Fact #3: Google was almost called “BackRub.”
Yes, the company that now powers the internet — that knows more about you than your own mom — was nearly called BackRub because it “checked backlinks.”
Thankfully, someone had the brain cells to rename it.
Now, Google is a verb. That’s power.
Try saying: “Hold on, I’ll BackRub it.”
No thanks.
Extra Fun: In the year 2025, Google’s parent company Alphabet is worth $2.3 trillion.
And the idea that began as a Stanford project now controls more information than the Vatican, the Library of Congress, and your auntie’s gossip group combined.
Real Talk: Here’s How They Did It
1. They solved a painful problem – Not a cute one. A BIG, painful, universal one.
2. They didn’t quit after 2 years – Most people can’t even commit to the gym.
3. They hired smarter people – Ego kills more businesses than competition.
4. They learned to sell – Even Steve Jobs practiced his presentations like theater.
5. They owned their time – No TikTok wormholes, no gossip, no laziness. No clubbing. No Partying all time. Just brutal grinding and relentless execution.
Satirical Reality: What Most People Do Instead
Start a business with a Canva logo and 3-day motivation.
Make 4 Instagram posts. Get 2 likes. Cry. Quit.
Complain the “market is saturated.”
Take 14 personality tests and call it “strategy.”
Post quotes like “grind in silence” — but never actually grind.
Let’s be real:
You won’t build a trillion-dollar company with vibes and vision boards.
You build it with war rooms, ugly crying, sleepless nights, and execution. That’s it. No way around that.
The “Impossible” Math
Apple is worth $3.5 trillion
That’s:
- 3,500 billion
- 3,500,000 million
- Enough to give every person on Earth $400 (with change left).
Nvidia made $14 billion profit in just 3 months in 2024.
That’s like earning $160 million per day. Or $1.8 million per hour.
UPDATE: In 2025, Nvidia’s quarterly revenue has ballooned to $44 billion —
which is more than Coca-Cola, Nike, and Netflix COMBINED.
You know how many lemonade stands that would take?
Exactly. Don’t try.
Jensen Huang’s Secret Sauce
Always paranoid: “Only the paranoid survive.”
Obsessed with quality: Even the GPU box had to look premium.
Long game thinker: Didn’t rush success. He built it — brick by chip.
Relentless Execution. Can do anything attitude with an acute sense of urgency.
He didn’t go viral. He went deep.
There’s a difference.
And now? He wears leather jackets like a Marvel villain.
Only he’s real. And he actually took over the world.
Final Brutal Truth:
Trillion-dollar businesses don’t happen by luck. They happen by sacrifice.
They are not built on comfort. They are built on conviction.
If you’re chasing a trillion with a part-time mindset, you’re just role-playing entrepreneurship.
What You Can Actually Do
Stop comparing. Start building.
Make something people NEED.
Be relentless like Jensen. Be creative like Jobs.
And remember: The first product probably sucks.
Fix it. Improve it. Launch again.
Warning:
This is not a movie.
No dramatic music will play when you struggle.
No one’s clapping for your late nights.
But the world will notice when you win.
Now go build something stupidly great.
Author: John S. Morlu II, CPA is the CEO and Chief Strategist of JS Morlu, leads a globally recognized public accounting and management consultancy firm. Under his visionary leadership, JS Morlu has become a pioneer in developing cutting-edge technologies across B2B, B2C, P2P, and B2G verticals. The firm’s groundbreaking innovations include AI-powered reconciliation software (ReckSoft.com) and advanced cloud accounting solutions (FinovatePro.com), setting new industry standards for efficiency, accuracy, and technological excellence.
