VisiCorp

VisiCorp

Address	2895 Zanker Road San Jose, CA 95134
Country	United States of America
Founded	1981
Defunct	1985
Formerly	Personal Software

Founding of VisiCorp

VisiCorp, originally known as Personal Software, Inc., was one of the most influential software companies of the early personal computing era. After helping launch the industry’s first killer app, VisiCalc, the company changed its name in 1981 to reflect the growing power and brand recognition of its flagship product. For a brief but brilliant moment, VisiCorp was the leading software publisher in the world, until strategic missteps and fierce competition brought about its swift decline.

History

By 1981, Personal Software had already achieved legendary status as the publisher of VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet. Developed by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston of Software Arts, and marketed and distributed by Personal Software under the leadership of Dan Fylstra, VisiCalc had become the software product that sold the Apple II and ignited the business market for personal computers.

To capitalize on this momentum and the strong consumer association with the “Visi” name, the company formally rebranded as VisiCorp in 1981. The move signaled a shift from being a general software publisher to becoming a software platform company— one that aimed to provide a full suite of applications for the office and business world.

Expansion of the “Visi” Brand

As VisiCorp, the company began developing and releasing a range of business applications intended to complement VisiCalc and form a cohesive software ecosystem. Key releases included:

VisiFile – a personal database manager
VisiWord – a word processing program
VisiPlot and VisiTrend – charting and trend analysis tools
VisiTutor – a training and tutorial program for learning VisiCalc
VisiSchedule – a project scheduling and management tool

These programs extended VisiCorp’s reach into the growing business software market and reflected its ambition to compete with the likes of Microsoft and emerging integrated office suites.

VisiOn – A Visionary Leap Ahead

Perhaps VisiCorp’s most ambitious initiative was VisiOn, an advanced graphical user interface (GUI) software environment for IBM PCs and compatibles. Announced in 1982 and released in 1983, VisiOn predated Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh's GUI environments in the business market. It offered a windowed, mouse-driven interface and supported multiple applications, including VisiOn Calc and VisiOn Word.

VisiOn was forward-thinking— but it was also ahead of its time. The software required high-end IBM PCs with expanded memory, hard drives, and special mouse support. It was expensive, slow on the hardware of the day, and difficult to install. Though impressive in concept and design, it failed to gain significant adoption, and its commercial reception was tepid.

Rising Tensions with Software Arts

In January 1983, Lotus Development Corporation released Lotus 1-2-3 for the IBM PC. Designed by former VisiCalc consultant Mitch Kapor, Lotus 1-2-3 combined spreadsheet, charting, and database capabilities into one application. It was faster, more powerful, and better suited to the IBM PC platform than VisiCalc.

Within months, Lotus 1-2-3 had overtaken VisiCalc in sales, and VisiCorp’s revenue and relevance plummeted. Despite being the world’s top-grossing microcomputer software company in 1982, VisiCorp was unable to recover from the blow.

By 1984, VisiCalc’s sales had cratered, and the ongoing litigation between VisiCorp and Software Arts further sapped the company's energy and focus. That same year, Software Arts was acquired by Lotus, ending the development of VisiCalc and effectively neutralizing VisiCorp’s control over its flagship product.

End of Operations and Legacy

By 1985, VisiCorp had ceased operating as a major player in the software industry. Its brief but influential life was marked by groundbreaking achievements and instructive missteps. It had helped invent software publishing as a business model, proved that software could drive hardware adoption, and introduced GUI-based computing to the business world before the market was ready.

Though it faded quickly, VisiCorp’s legacy is notable:

It pioneered the commercial software publishing model, including boxed software with documentation and retail distribution.
It helped define the role of the “killer app”, with VisiCalc as the program that justified computer purchases.
It demonstrated early visions of an integrated business software suite.
It built and marketed the first commercially released graphical operating environment for PCs (VisiOn), predating Microsoft Windows 1.0.

VisiCorp’s rise and fall remains a dramatic story in early personal computing history— a story of visionary ambition, rapid innovation, and the harsh realities of an industry in flux.

VisiCorp

Contents

Founding of VisiCorp

History

Expansion of the “Visi” Brand

VisiOn – A Visionary Leap Ahead

Rising Tensions with Software Arts

End of Operations and Legacy

Logos

People

Titles

References