- Hardcover: 500 pages
- Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (Jan 26 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1590597141
- ISBN-13: 978-1590597149
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.1 x 3.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 771 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#136,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #61 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > High-Tech
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
For would-be entrepreneurs, innovation managers or just anyone fascinated by the special chemistry and drive that created some of the best technology companies in the world, this book offers both wisdom and engaging insights—straight from the source.
— Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, and author of The Long Tail
"All the best things that I did at Apple came from (a) not having money and (b) not having done it before, ever." —Steve Wozniak, Apple
Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days is a collection of interviews with founders of famous technology companies about what happened in the very earliest days. These people are celebrities now. What was it like when they were just a couple friends with an idea? Founders like Steve Wozniak (Apple), Caterina Fake (Flickr), Mitch Kapor (Lotus), Max Levchin (PayPal), and Sabeer Bhatia (Hotmail) tell you in their own words about their surprising and often very funny discoveries as they learned how to build a company.
Where did they get the ideas that made them rich? How did they convince investors to back them? What went wrong, and how did they recover?
Nearly all technical people have thought of one day starting or working for a startup. For them, this book is the closest you can come to being a fly on the wall at a successful startup, to learn how it's done.
But ultimately these interviews are required reading for anyone who wants to understand business, because startups are business reduced to its essence. The reason their founders become rich is that startups do what businessesdo—create value—more intensively than almost any other part of the economy. How? What are the secrets that make successful startups so insanely productive? Read this book, and let the founders themselves tell you.
About the Author
Jessica Livingston is a founding partner at Y Combinator, a seed-stage venture firm based in Cambridge, MA, and Mountain View, CA. She was previously VP of marketing at investment bank Adams Harkness. In addition to her work with startups at Y Combinator, she organizes Startup School. She has a BA in English from Bucknell.
Inside This Book
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great book despite poor implementation,
By
This review is from: Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days (Hardcover)
At last, we can have a peek at the life in the early stage of a
successful startup. Jessica Livingston interviewed several leaders of the digital age. She takes us from the very beginning when there is just a handful of founder and no one else to the culmination of the exercise: IPO, acquisition, or commercial domination. The stories are really interesting, unfortunately this book could use a lot more editing. We get the interview verbatim, including the praises by Livingston and the polite acknowledgments. When the interview diverges, she is slow to bring it back on track; I really was looking forward to the story of Wozniak, most of it end up in technical details on the Apple II and few insights regarding the startup. Some people are really terse and Livingston just go through her list of questions without asking for more details. If there was another book, the poor editing might lead to recommend it instead. But there is no other book. This is the only book where you learn about the pain and the joy of the first few years of those companies. This is the only book where you can receive the advice of the most successful founders. This is a book that must be read.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book,
This review is from: Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days (Paperback)
Very interesting read. Loved every story in the book but I do wish Jessica would write a newer version and showcase some newer companies. Still a great read though and highly recommended.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book,
By
This review is from: Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days (Paperback)
This book is great and easy to read. You can choose and read the interviews that interest you the most.
Many books on business startup focus on mostly principles and lack real examples. However, this book focuses on real examples from large successful and famous organizations. I would have given it 5 stars if it had follow up comments after each interview to elaborate on the lessons learned with reference to some principles that should be considered when starting a business. I recommend this book to be read after understanding some important business principles, such as the ones outlined by Guy Kawasaki in his book "The Art of Start".
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