Spreadsheet Unbundling Graphic

Once upon a time, Excel did everything. Budgets. To-do lists. Payroll. You name it. Then startups swooped in and carved out little pieces of Excel’s empire—each turning one spreadsheet tab into a full-blown SaaS business.

The Unbundling Strategy at Work

This graphic shows Excel’s “columns” turned categories like HR, project management, and finance. Tools like Asana, QuickBooks, and FreshBooks took the most used Excel templates and made them dead simple, automated, and shareable.

Why It Works

• Solves one niche problem perfectly
• Easier to use than a clunky spreadsheet
• Adds integrations and collaboration Excel can’t
• Feels modern and purpose-built

Real Life Examples

• Asana turned Excel task lists into $100M+ ARR project management
• QuickBooks replaced small biz accounting spreadsheets
• Airtable rebuilt Excel as a collaborative online platform
• Trello visualized to-do lists with boards, reaching 50M users
• Smartsheet monetized enterprise spreadsheets into a public company worth billions