40 Years of Excelleration

Chaos Lever Podcast

Get ready for a *spooktacular* look at one of the least spooky (but incredibly powerful) tools ever made: Microsoft Excel. It's Excel’s 40th anniversary, so we're diving into its history, quirks, and how this humble spreadsheet app has managed to shape business, science, finance, and... espionage? Yes, you read that right.

Excel may not sound thrilling, but trust us, it's one of the most impactful tech tools of the last 40 years. From financial firms to scientific research, sports leagues, and even British intelligence, Excel’s endless versatility has led to some, let’s say... *interesting* mishaps along the way. We’ll explore:
- The origins of the spreadsheet concept dating back to ancient Mesopotamian clay tablets (yes, seriously)
- Landmark moments like the creation of VisiCalc, Lotus 1-2-3, and Excel’s first big splash
- Iconic Excel fails, from the JP Morgan $6.2B blunder to national policy mistakes—Excel giveth, and Excel taketh away!
- The rise of VBA, Excel World Cup, and how Excel thrives today in the cloud era

So grab a pumpkin spice latte, sit back, and open a workbook with a mini-golf game embedded. You’ll never look at spreadsheets the same way again. 💀

Links:
- https://www.qashqade.com/insights/the-worst-financial-services-excel-errors-of-all-time
- https://www.teampay.co/blog/biggest-excel-mistakes-of-all-time
- https://sheetcast.com/articles/ten-memorable-excel-disasters
- https://www.bbc.com/news/business-39870485
- https://infotech.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2016/01/25/new/
- https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=5478
- https://spinpasta.fandom.com/wiki/Hall_of_Tortured_Souls
- https://fmworldcup.com/excel-esports/microsoft-excel-world-championship/