40 years later, lessons from the rise and quick decline of the first ‘killer app’

Remember VisiCalc, the world's first spreadsheet? Today's tech giants do, and that is why they buy up and invest in potential competitive threats. It was the first killer app, the spark for Apple's early success and a trigger for the broader PC boom that vaulted Microsoft to its central position in business computing. And within a few years, it was tech-industry roadkill. Many silicon valley startups basically have only one purpose these days: flaunt their ideas in front of the tech giants, and hope VC funding doesn't run dry before one of them buys them. They're not building sustainable businesses; they're building a corporate advertorials.