WazeHe gave his map away. Google paid $1B.

An Israeli programmer gave his map away for free. Seven years later, Google paid about a billion dollars for it. In 2006, Ehud Shabtai started FreeMap Israel, a map anyone could help build.

He wrote: "I don't see the maps as something that belongs to me, but rather to the community." In 2008, with Uri Levine and Amir Shinar, it became Waze. "When we started, we started with a blank page, so there was no map. And actually the map was created by the drivers."

Report a jam, a crash, a police car, and everyone behind you knew. By 2013, nearly 50 million people drove with it. Facebook reportedly offered up to a billion dollars.

The reported catch: the team would have to leave Israel. "People don't want to go away. They don't want to relocate to other places."

Waze said no. Less than two weeks later: "Google came with a proposal to acquire us, and we said yes." This time, nobody had to move.

"You can stay Waze, you can stay in Israel."