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From IBM's mainframe dominance to Microsoft's platform strategy to Adobe's subscription reinvention, American technology companies have written the operating playbook for every industry that followed — and then had to rewrite it when the next wave arrived.

4 stories in Technology

Photograph of Apple — 1976
1976Cupertino, CaliforniaTechnology

How Steve Jobs rebuilt Apple by refusing to compete on price

When Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the company had 90 days of cash left. His first move was to kill 70% of the product line.

Jan 29, 2025Apply the lesson
Photograph of Adobe — 1982
1982San Jose, CaliforniaTechnology

How Adobe turned a PostScript licensing deal into a $200 billion creative empire

Adobe didn't start by selling software to designers. It started by selling a page description language to printer manufacturers — and that licensing model funded everything that followed.

Jan 15, 2025Apply the lesson
Photograph of IBM — 1911
1911Armonk, New YorkTechnology

How IBM built the modern technology industry — and then had to reinvent itself to survive it

IBM invented the mainframe, the hard disk, the relational database, and the personal computer — then nearly went bankrupt because it couldn't let go of the business model those inventions had built.

Jan 15, 2025Apply the lesson
Photograph of Microsoft — 1975
1975Albuquerque, WashingtonTechnology

How Bill Gates turned a licensing deal into the most valuable software company in history

Gates didn't write the operating system that made Microsoft. He licensed it, renamed it, and sold it to IBM — then kept the rights. That single decision built a $3 trillion company.

Jan 15, 2025Apply the lesson
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