I’ve heard Drs. Warnock & Geschke talk about how they started Adobe with the intention of selling printing hardware, and how they shopped this idea around and around until they finally agreed to do what customers wanted: just sell them the software. They depict it as something of a forehead-slapping moment that changed everything. Adobe’s first big break came when [Adobe Founders] Geschke and Warnock convinced Apple Computer Inc. to use Post-Script with its LaserWriter printer. As part of the deal, Apple purchased a 19-percent stake in Adobe. The first printer using the PostScript language was made available for sale in 1985. Texas Instruments Inc. began using PostScript in its IBM-compatible PCs in 1986. That year, Adobe conducted its initial public offering (IPO). It will be interesting to see if Apple invites Adobe Flash to be on the future iPhone or the tablet or if Adobe’s products get any better on the Mac platform.
Some more interesting stuff: The hands-on nature of the [Adobe] startup was communicated to everyone the company brought on board. For years, Warnock and Geschke hand-delivered a bottle of champagne or cognac and a dozen roses to a new hire’s house. The employee arrived at work to find hammer, ruler, and screwdriver on a desk, which were to be used for hanging up shelves, pictures, and so on. “From the start we wanted them to have the mentality that everyone sweeps the floor around here,” says Geschke, adding that while the hand tools may be gone, the ethic persists today.
