Personal Software

Personal Software
Country	United States of America
Founded	1978
Defunct	Yes
Renamed	VisiCorp, 1981

Founding of Personal Software

History

Personal Software, Inc. was one of the earliest software publishers in the personal computing revolution. Founded in 1978 by Dan Fylstra, a technology writer and Harvard Business School graduate, and Peter Jennings, a Canadian programmer and computer chess enthusiast, the company helped define the emerging industry of commercially distributed personal computer software.

Origins: Microcomputers and MicroChess

Personal Software was born out of Dan Fylstra's desire to commercialize and distribute software for the rapidly growing base of personal computer users. At the time, most programs were shared informally or distributed via hobbyist channels. Fylstra envisioned a more professional approach—one that included packaging, documentation, and customer support.

The company’s first product was MicroChess, a chess-playing program developed by co-founder Peter Jennings. Originally self-published for the MOS Technology KIM-1 in 1976, MicroChess became one of the first software programs sold in stores and one of the earliest commercial successes in the microcomputer era. When Personal Software was founded, MicroChess was repackaged and published for the Apple II, Commodore PET, and TRS-80, among other platforms.

MicroChess’s success helped provide the capital and credibility Personal Software needed to expand its catalog and operations. It also demonstrated that software could be a standalone consumer product, worthy of retail presence and professional marketing.

Early Titles and Catalog Growth

In its early days, Personal Software released several pioneering titles across genres—utilities, games, productivity, and education— for multiple home computer platforms. Some of the earliest titles included:

MicroChess (Peter Jennings) – A simplified chess program that could play complete games and was accessible to casual users.
Personal Finance – A budgeting and checkbook management tool for early home users.
Forecast – A simple statistical forecasting tool geared toward business users.
PSORT – A utility for sorting data on early microcomputers.
Trap – A graphical strategy game resembling a logic puzzle.
Trek 80 – A text-based Star Trek-inspired space exploration and combat game.
Space – An educational game simulating planetary motion and gravity.

These titles were often programmed by individual developers or hobbyists and then professionally published and distributed by Personal Software. The company served as a middle layer between programmers and customers, shaping what would soon become the software publishing model.

VisiCalc and the First Killer App

Personal Software’s landmark achievement came in 1979 when it began publishing VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet, developed by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston of Software Arts. Fylstra, who had been Bricklin’s classmate at Harvard, recognized the groundbreaking potential of the program after seeing an early prototype.

Released for the Apple II in October 1979, VisiCalc revolutionized personal computing. It allowed users to build and recalculate financial models interactively— a task that previously required hours of manual effort. Personal Software handled the marketing, packaging, and distribution of VisiCalc, while Software Arts retained development duties.

VisiCalc became the first “killer app” for personal computers and dramatically increased demand for the Apple II. Business professionals now had a compelling reason to purchase a personal computer— not for games or hobbyist applications, but for productivity.

Rebranding as VisiCorp and Ambitious Expansion

Riding on the massive success of VisiCalc, Personal Software changed its name to VisiCorp in 1981 and set out to build a full suite of business applications. Products included:

VisiFile – a database manager
VisiWord – a word processor
VisiTrend/VisiPlot – data analysis and charting tools
VisiOn – an early graphical user interface environment for business computing (released in 1983)

VisiCorp hoped to define the future of personal productivity software through a fully integrated business suite. Unfortunately, many of these programs faced performance issues or arrived too late to capture significant market share. VisiOn, although visionary in design, required expensive hardware and was seen as difficult to use compared to emerging competitors like Lotus 1-2-3 and, later, Microsoft Windows.

Legal Battles and Decline

Tensions grew between VisiCorp and Software Arts over control of the VisiCalc product line and branding. Disputes over royalties and responsibilities eventually erupted into litigation, which distracted both companies as the market moved forward.

In 1983, Lotus 1-2-3 was released for the IBM PC. It was faster, more powerful, and integrated spreadsheet, graphing, and database functions in a single application. Within a year, Lotus had overtaken VisiCalc in sales and mindshare. VisiCorp’s efforts to catch up faltered, and its dominance evaporated almost overnight.

By 1985, VisiCorp had ceased to be a significant player. Software Arts was acquired by Lotus, and the Visi brand disappeared from the forefront of the industry.

Legacy

Personal Software, later VisiCorp, was a trailblazer in software publishing. It proved that individual software titles—like MicroChess and VisiCalc— could be successful standalone products with professional marketing and packaging. The company helped launch the commercial software industry, defined early best practices in publishing, and introduced the first true killer app that validated personal computers for business use.

Though the company faded quickly amid industry upheaval and competition, its influence on how software was sold, marketed, and perceived was profound. Without Personal Software’s vision— and its belief in software as a product— the software industry might have taken much longer to emerge as the massive force it is today.

Logos

People

Daniel Fylstra, Founder, Chairman and CEO
Peter Jennings

Titles