After Microsoft removed the Start button, the former #1 OS/2 ISV (Stardock Systems) created the Start8 utility as a 3rd-party $5 replacement start button. They sold millions of copies, proving market demand and motivating the return of the button in future Windows releases.
> Over the years, we’ve developed and/or published a lot of software that was “ahead of its time”. Sometimes, too far ahead of its time. :) ... Broadly speaking, Stardock is a bunch of “techies” who have let their hobby get out of control ... most consumers would be shocked if they knew the actual dollars earned by reasonably “popular” iOS and Android games and apps ... Our poorest-selling DLC for PC games generates more income than nearly every iOS or Android developer app we've gotten numbers for ... Start8 will undoubtedly be obsoleted by a future version of Windows as its stunning popularity (over 30 million downloads and counting) makes it clear it was a mistake for Microsoft to get rid of the Start menu in Windows 8. In the meantime, Start8 has been an unexpected boon. If it makes Microsoft feel better, the revenue from Start8 has helped us hire a lot of new developers making new Windows software.
> ... In 1998, the OS/2 market died off. Stardock went from a multimillion dollar business to one that made less than $400,000 in one year. The only reason we survived was because our former OS/2 user base bought Object Desktop for Windows, sight unseen, a year before it would be released. While “Kickstarter” is now common, most of you reading this know that in 1998 just doing credit cards over the Internet was a new thing, let alone giving $50 to a company to make a product that didn’t exist.