Somebody needs to say this: the garage is a myth. Not because HP didn’t literally start in a garage — it did. But because the way we tell that story has become dishonest.

When we say “they started in a garage,” we mean: they had nothing, they were scrappy, they were underdogs. But most of the famous “garage founders” had Stanford educations, professional networks, and family safety nets. The garage was romantic, not desperate.

You know who was actually desperate? Elon and Kimbal Musk, sleeping in their Zip2 office because they literally could not afford both an office and an apartment. Showering at the YMCA. Eating at Jack in the Box four times a day because it was open 24 hours. Their office had backed-up toilets and they drilled through a ceiling to steal internet from the company upstairs.

That is not a garage story. That is a survival story. And the difference matters.

The garage myth tells aspiring founders that starting a company should feel adventurous and cinematic. The reality is that it usually feels like desperation, exhaustion, and wondering if you made a terrible mistake. If we told that version more often, fewer people would quit in the first six months because they expected the garage and got the backed-up toilet instead.

The next time someone tells you their startup “started in a garage,” ask them if they also showered at the YMCA.