Mark Pelczarski established his first software company, MP Software, in 1978. Pelczarski, a high school teacher,had realized the graphic capabilities of the Apple II computer and developed a drawing program called Magic Paintbrush. Though the "MP" in "MP Software" could have stood for its founder's initials or for its earliest published game, Pelczarski joked in an October 1980 issue of SoftSide magazine that it was for "Magnificent Penguin". Pelczarski's next graphics utilities sold under the label Micro Co-Op, which Pelczarski had started to sell Apple software by other publishers. He decided that publishing his own software would be more lucrative, however, and renamed the company Penguin Software, a callback to his earlier quip.