Microsoft then took 90% of the word processing market. Users could also add graphics and tables. Instead of writing formatting codes in WordPerfect, business users were introduced to Microsoft Word’s GUI interface that allowed you to easily format a page that would print exactly how it looks on the screen. In the 1990’s, we were introduced to the GUI, which brought on a big disruption at the time - WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). Game-changing relative to the typewriter. With WordPerfect, you could move text around, check your spelling, and add text formatting through the use of special codes. It was revolutionary because it had many more features than the typewriter that came before it. Prior to Microsoft Word, WordPerfect had 70% market share of the word processing market. (Note, if you are a history buff and want to get into detail on the full history of writing software, check out this stellar article by Textio.) Let’s look at a brief history of one of Microsoft Office’s most successful products, Microsoft Word, to see if we can learn about what the next wave of productivity software might look like. Even if a startup were to take just a small part of the market, it could be a multi-billion opportunity.Ĭurrent Suite of Microsoft Office Applications: Currently, the Microsoft Office suite generates $25bn in annual revenue.

Over the last few years, we’ve started to see startups pop up to challenge Microsoft and the potential for these startups is huge. Microsoft has been the market leader in business productivity market for 30 years, but we’ve seen very little innovation in their core products. We build all of our financial models in Excel and I spend many hours a day reviewing pitch presentations built in PowerPoint. For example, I’m currently writing this blog post in Microsoft Word. Many people would argue that it is one of the most important productivity suites we have. Microsoft Office is a suite of productivity tools that help us get work done.

Word perfect productivity pack