Viaweb was a web-based application that allowed users to build and host their own online stores with little technical expertise using a web browser. The company was started in July 1995 by Paul Graham, Robert Morris (using the pseudonym "John McArtyem"),[2] and Trevor Blackwell.[3] Graham claims Viaweb was the first application service provider.[4] Viaweb was also unusual for being partially written in the Lisp programming language.[5]
The software was originally called Webgen,[6] but another company was using the same name,[7]