Software Ate the World

August 20, 2011 - Marc Andreessen famously wrote that “Software Is Eating the World”. While the text is great throughout, I love this paragraph:

“In some industries, particularly those with a heavy real-world component such as oil and gas, the software revolution is primarily an opportunity for incumbents. But in many industries, new software ideas will result in the rise of new Silicon Valley-style start-ups that invade existing industries with impunity. Over the next 10 years, the battles between incumbents and software-powered insurgents will be epic. Joseph Schumpeter, the economist who coined the term “creative destruction,” would be proud.”

August 24, 2020 - No less than 6 high-flying technology companies have filled their S-1 to become public companies, but most iconic, the 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average have replaced none other than the 2011 world’s largest company (Exxon) for one of the first software-revolution companies, Salesforce.com.

And this is the quote for the S&P to justify this tectonic-like change:

“They also help diversify the index by removing overlap between companies of similar scope and adding new types of businesses that better reflect the American economy,”

“That’s the big opportunity. I know where I’m putting my money.” Marc Andreessen, the venture capitalist who coined the term ‘software is eating the world’ should be proud today.