About Us
In 1980, real estate investor Frank Gallinelli needed to negotiate the purchase of a commercial building in Connecticut. He had recently acquired something completely new to the business world: a personal computer. Using that computer along with an early spreadsheet program called SuperCalc, he built an income-and-expense statement and cash flow and resale projection modeled after the CCIM approach to income-property analysis. He closed the deal, but perhaps more importantly, he attracted the interest of colleagues, most of whom asked, “How did you do that?” Thus was born in 1981, one of the earliest personal computer software companies still in business, RealData, Inc.
We released our first commercial software application, Real Estate Overlays for SuperCalc, in 1982. That program, now improved over numerous generations and called Real Estate Investment Analysis, Professional Edition, remains the company’s bestseller.
The early computer personal computer landscape was chaotic, but the chaos notwithstanding, it soon became clear that the personal computer was not a novelty destined to go the way of the eight-track. IBM entered with its PC and we followed with compatible products. Then Apple introduced the Macintosh and again we responded immediately with some of the first business software available for the Mac. Around 1984, we served as beta-testers for a new and promising spreadsheet program called Microsoft Excel.
True to our pedigree as an early adopter of new technologies, we launched our presence on the internet early in 1996. It quickly became apparent that the internet was the perfect venue for our company and our customers. Now investors and developers could purchase and download software immediately.
Not many software companies have prevailed for what is virtually the entire history of the personal computer industry. How can RealData explain this longevity? A simple and obvious answer would be to say that we provide good products and good service at an affordable price, and hope to continue doing so.