In Canada, Maye had to start from scratch. She and Tosca lived with a friend until they found a rent-controlled place in Toronto, where Elon joined them. For $1,000 a month, Maye did research at University of Toronto while taking courses to verify her South African credentials. She also bought Elon a $99 outfit (suit, tie, and socks included) and connected him with a dietitian's husband who worked at Microsoft (MSFT), where Elon ended up working for a bit. Maye continued modeling, booking jobs to snag office space in her modeling agency's building. Maye renovated it and rebuilt her practice ipod touch cases.

After her sons graduated from college, Elon and Kimbal moved to California and started electronic directory company Zip2. Maye had about $2,000 to spare per month, so she used it to visit her sons every six weeks for a week. Whatever was left over was theirs for the taking ACUPUNCTURE.

(At the time, the scrappy startup founders were showering at the Y and sleeping under their desks, Maye recalls.) During one of her visits, Maye went to Kinko's with Kimbal to print colored copies – that mom was paying for – of the boys' business presentation to take to a venture capitalist the next morning. That meeting was where Elon and Kimbal got their first investment modular storage.