Excel may be the most influential software ever built. If you want to see the future of B2B software, look at what Excel users are hacking together in spreadsheets today.
Excel’s success has inspired the creation of software whose combined enterprise value dwarfs that of Excel alone. There are two main ways Excel has set the broad roadmap for the B2B software industry for decades, and will continue to for years to come:
-
The Unbundling of Excel. Hundreds of B2B startups have been built by taking a job currently being done in Excel and trying to accomplish the job in more optimized, purpose-built B2B software. Every time you hear an entrepreneur say, “We’re replacing siloed spreadsheets and outdated processes with purpose-built software,” you’re hearing the Unbundling of Excel in real time. Many popular SaaS applications fall in this category. And yet, despite being “unbundled,” Excel keeps getting stronger.
- Inspired by Excel. That resiliency has inspired entrepreneurs to look more deeply at what makes Excel tick, and why. Adventurous builders are creating new software that doesn’t unbundle Excel, but is Inspired by Excel. Excel’s balance of usability and flexibility can be found in popular no-code and low-code products created over three decades since Excel first graced the screen. This source of inspiration is less direct and more meta; it is less about recreating anything concrete that happens in Excel, and more about capturing the essence of what makes Excel so successful.
We love Excel, everyone reading this probably loves Excel, and still, its impact is deeply underappreciated. Ben Rollert and Packy team up to cover:
- The History of Excel
- Excel as a Language
- The Lindy Effect
- Excel’s Limitations
- No-Code and the Unbundling of Excel
- Why Excel Will Never Die
Read the original post at Not Boring.
The audio edition is brought to you by Masterworks. Use promo code "not boring" to skip the 25k person waitlist.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ageofmiracles/message