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VisiCalc

The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.

Founded1979

01 / WHAT IT BUILT

What the company did

VisiCalc (short for 'visible calculator') was the first spreadsheet program and is widely regarded as the first 'killer app' in computing history. Conceived in 1978 by Harvard Business School student Dan Bricklin and developed with programmer Bob Frankston, it turned the Apple II from a hobbyist toy into a business machine — many customers bought a personal computer solely to run VisiCalc. Sold for $100 and marketed by Dan Fylstra's Personal Software (later VisiCorp), it became the top-selling microcomputer program of its era, with more than 200,000 copies sold in its first two years.

02 / VisiCalc FAILURE REASONS

Failure factors supported by the current evidence

VisiCalc sales declined rapidly after Lotus 1-2-3 offered a stronger product for the IBM PC. At the same time, VisiCorp's Visi On product produced weak sales, leaving the company with falling revenue and product-development burdens.

Competition

Lotus 1-2-3 displaced VisiCalc by taking better advantage of the IBM PC platform.

Revenue Decline

VisiCalc sales declined while Visi On generated insufficient sales.

03 / EVENT HISTORY

Events in the structured record

  1. Conception

    In 1978, Dan Bricklin conceived the electronic spreadsheet; he and Bob Frankston founded Software Arts in January 1979 to build it.

  2. Launch

    VisiCalc shipped for the Apple II in October 1979, sold by Personal Software for $100. It was an instant success — more than 100,000 copies sold by late 1979.

  3. Peak and competition

    VisiCalc dominated the early spreadsheet market; IBM would not announce its PC until VisiCalc was ready. In 1983 Mitch Kapor's Lotus 1-2-3 arrived and overtook it.

  4. Sold

    Bricklin and Frankston sold Software Arts to Lotus in 1985 for $1.3 million, ending VisiCalc's run as an independent product.

04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT

Difficulty of rebuilding this project today

Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.

Rebuild difficultyPending assessmentNot completed
Scoring basisNot completed
ScalabilityPending assessmentNot completed
Scoring basisNot completed

Overall assessment: Not completed

05 / CAUSAL CHAIN

How the factors connect

  1. 01

    In 1978 Harvard student Dan Bricklin conceived the electronic spreadsheet; he and Bob Frankston founded Software Arts in January 1979.

  2. 02

    VisiCalc shipped for the Apple II in October 1979 for $100, marketed by Personal Software.

  3. 03

    The program sold over 200,000 copies in two years and drove mass adoption of personal computers.

  4. 04

    In 1983 Lotus 1-2-3 launched and displaced VisiCalc as the leading spreadsheet.

  5. 05

    In 1985 Software Arts was sold to Lotus for $1.3 million, ending VisiCalc's independent history.