T/Maker
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Founder | Heidi Roizen |
| Headquarters | Mountain View, California , United States |
Key people | Heidi Roizen (CEO), Royal Farros (Chairman) |
| Products | T/Maker spreadsheet, ClickArt, WriteNow, Personal Publisher, SmartBundle, Vroombooks |
| Parent | Deluxe Corporation (acquired 1994) |
T/Maker (short for Table Maker) ranks among the earliest spreadsheet applications developed for personal computers, introduced by Peter Roizen in 1979. This software was compatible with CP/M, TRSDOS, and subsequently MS-DOS operating systems, with initial distribution handled by Lifeboat Associates. Distinct from conventional spreadsheet programs, T/Maker utilized formulas assigned to entire rows and columns located in the margins instead of embedding them within individual cells. Although it appeared on the market six months after VisiCalc, it represented an early iteration of an integrated 'office' suite concept, combining tables that could be employed across databases, spreadsheets, and word processing documents.
T/Maker Company
Established in 1983 in Mountain View, California, the T/Maker Company was founded by Heidi Roizen, Peter Roizen’s sister and a recent graduate of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, who took on the role of CEO. The firm initially promoted software that had been published by third parties for CP/M and MS-DOS platforms before broadening its reach to the Apple Macintosh market with offerings such as the ClickArt clip art collection and the WriteNow word processor designed for Mac and NeXT systems.
T/Maker produced its own suite of integrated applications while also licensing software compatible with DOS, Windows, and Macintosh environments. ClickArt was among the first five software titles launched for the Mac platform, and T/Maker was an early supplier of fonts for Macintosh computers. By 1988, the company had discontinued sales of its original T/Maker spreadsheet program.
Key products included Personal Publisher, a desktop publishing tool aimed at consumers that was acquired by Software Publishing Corporation in 1986; SmartBundle, an office productivity suite; Vroombooks, which were multimedia storybooks; and WriteNow, a word processor licensed from NeXT in 1985 and later sold to WordStar in 1993.
In 1986, Heidi Roizen along with chairman Royal Farros purchased T/Maker from Peter Roizen and sustained operations through self-funding until 1989 when venture capital firm Hummer Winblad Venture Partners made its inaugural investment in the company. Ann Winblad joined the board at that time. A subsequent financing round led by Tim Draper of Draper Fisher took place in 1993, with Draper also becoming a board member.
The company was acquired by Deluxe Corporation in 1994. Heidi Roizen departed in 1996 to assume the position of Apple’s Vice President of Worldwide Developer Relations; meanwhile, Royal Farros went on to establish the online printing business iPrint.com. The remaining T/Maker product lines were eventually purchased by Broderbund, which continues to promote and develop the ClickArt brand.