Back in the 80s and early 90s, word processing was where empires were built. WordStar (from MicroPro), MultiMate, WordPerfect, and FullWrite weren’t just names—they were the cornerstone of productivity before the rise of the internet. Today, that same foundational role is being played by platforms like Cursor, Replit, and Loveable. The players are new, but the arc feels familiar: build something people love, gain adoption, and either grow into a platform or get bought for parts.
Let’s rewind. WordPerfect, once the gold standard for legal and academic professionals, was acquired by Novell in 1994 for about $1.4 billion. But Novell couldn’t keep pace with Microsoft’s rise, and within two years, it offloaded WordPerfect to Corel for under $200 million, a clear cautionary tale of mismatched visions. WordStar, dominant in the early PC era, was merged with SoftKey Software in 1993, effectively marking its end. MultiMate, once popular with IBM PC users, was snapped up by Ashton-Tate in the mid-80s for $22 million. FullWrite, the beautifully designed Mac word processor from Ashton-Tate, faded into obscurity as ownership shifted and innovation stalled.
Now fast-forward to 2025. Cursor, built by Anysphere, is rewriting collaboration in code editors. The startup raised a $900 million round at a $9 billion valuation, and is rapidly acquiring AI-native talent and tools, including teams from Koala and Supermaven. It feels a lot like the early WordPerfect days: beloved by a niche (developers), gaining traction fast, and trying to build a platform, not just a product.
Replit is another standout. Think of it as the WordPerfect-meets-Netscape for developers as an in-browser IDE with baked-in AI and instant deployment. In 2025, it raised $250 million at a $3 billion valuation, growing from under $3 million in ARR to $150 million in under a year. That’s WordPerfect-level trajectory, minus the WordPerfect baggage.
Then there’s Loveable, the Sweden-based app-creation platform that turns natural language into working software. In 2025, it raised $200 million at a $1.8 billion valuation, just two years after launching. By late 2025, it was reportedly valued at $5 billion. Loveable could be this generation’s FullWrite: elegant, delightful, and perhaps too ahead of its time, or exactly on time.
So yes, history does repeat. In the 80s and 90s, the killer app was the word processor. Today, it’s the AI-native coding and writing environment. The winners will again be those who understand platform, not just product, and those who keep evolving before the next revolution starts.