PASS BA Speaker focus: What did Steve Jobs have to say about Daniel Fylstra?

PASS BA Conference is delighted to have Daniel Fylstra speaking at our conference. In fact, he was the first speaker we signed up.

Here’s what Steve Jobs had to say:

“There have been two real explosions that have propelled the industry forward. The first one really happened in 1977, and it was the spreadsheet. I remember when Dan Fylstra, who ran the company that marketed the first spreadsheet, walked into my office at Apple one day and pulled out this disk from his vest pocket and said “I have this incredible new program — I call it a Visual Calculator,” and it became VisiCalc. And that’s what really drove — propelled — the Apple II to the success it achieved.”

I think it’s great that we have such a visionary attending our PASS BA Conference. I’m looking forward to meeting Daniel, and picking up his insights from 30 plus years in the industry. Jobs mentions an event that took place when I was only six years old, and look at how the industry has grown since then. We have Excel’s 30th Birthday this year.

We can really say that the team of Dan Bricklin, Bob Frankston and Daniel Fylstra are great innovators who have really changed the industry fundamentally. Although they didn’t invent the spread sheet, it was Daniel Fylstra suggested it would be a viable product if it could run on an Apple II computer. VisiCalc was born.

Ever used the Microsoft Excel Solver? Well, here is Daniel Fylstra’s paper on the Microsoft Excel Solver, and its design and use. If you’ve ever used it, you should tip your hat to the great team who put it together. Daniel is one of those people. More recently, Fylstra has been working on Integrated simulation, data mining and optimization in Excel. Here’s a recent paper here, from the ACM.

From this insight, there are great innovators and thinkers that can we learn from them. They seek better ways of doing things, about bringing insights from other disciplines. We are inspired by people who see the bigger picture, and I’m personally looking forward to meeting Daniel and thanking him for all he has done for this industry.

Make sure you sign up for the Conference, and take the opportunity to meet a legend in the industry.