It took 24 years for Apple to go from 0 to 9,600 employees, but only 6 more years to get to 98,000. For Starbucks, it was 25 years to go from 0 to 16,000, but only 10 more years to get to 182,000. Before achieving industry domination, these two companies (and 99% of all other companies in the world that have effectively scaled) went through a few distinct stages.