Eyeball Wars : a novel of dot-com intrigue [Hardcover]

David Meerman Scott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2001

Moving as quick as a mouse-click from Tokyo to New York City, from Silicon Valley to Sydney, from Nantucket to Amsterdam, Eyeball Wars spans cultures and continents, giving the insider's perspective on the struggles of dot-com start-ups and the clash between old media and new.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An internecine battle for readership ("eyeballs") between an online Internet startup and its parent company, an established media giant, is the subject of Scott's fast-paced if poorly articulated first novel. Rich young playboy Richard Williams is cut off by his father, Pierce, a ruthless media tycoon who insists that his son begin to earn a living. Richard is put in charge of the new Internet division of his father's company, but dad also hobbles his heir by establishing a strict budget and hiring Jason Carpenter, a back-stabbing Internet hotshot, to compete with him. At first Richard flounders, but eventually he begins to figure out how to run the company. He decides to reinvent the site using a tabloid format, and his concept becomes an instant hit. The financial effort to establish the site proves a bigger hurdle, until Richard is aided by a mysterious venture capitalist and later by Mariko Suzuki, a young Japanese woman whose company is looking to invest in an American Internet startup. As the narrative progresses, the novelty of the Internet angle fades, and the book turns into a feel-good business success story with a romantic subplot involving Richard and Mariko. Scott injects some brio when he skewers the greed and fast-track lifestyles of the rich and famous, and he has an insider's perspective on the way deals get done in the dot-com world. His message that PR, spin and get-rich-quick schemes will be the ultimate legacy of the Internet is a cautionary tale indeed, but in all, this book, laden with brand names and hip locales, is for readers more comfortable with online lingo than graceful prose. (Jan.) Forecast: Despite its flaws, this title, with its catchy, pixillated cover, has potential to take off among the dot.com legions. The publisher's marketing plans seem well-aimed at the Net crowd, and include author appearances at Internet trade shows, direct mail to Internet professionals, and use in corporate gift packages (Freshspot claims that Internet companies have preordered hundreds of copies).
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"...fast, hip, self-reverential and amusingly serendipitous, a perfectly quirky novel of a perfectly quirky industry..." -- Jay MacDonald, Fort Myers News-Press

"A terrific debut...his characterizations are spot-on and his writing style splits the difference between, say, Martin Amis and Jay McInerny." -- BookPage, April 2001

"Eyeball Wars has the cachet of both what's next and what's been around because it's good." -- Miss Pym, Mystery International, March 2001

"Great fun and full of insights. Scott's characters are impossible to forget." -- Chris MacPhail, CEO, Wired Markets, Inc.

"I was ‘wired’ to this book—the backdrop is the Internet; the story is pure people—greed, politics, and survival." -- Greg Chagaris, CEO, Outsell, Inc. and publisher of "Information About Information"

"If you want to know what it’s really like to establish and run a dot-com, read Eyeball Wars. -- Michael Fix, Chairman and CEO, Industry to Industry

“[Eyeball Wars] has everything, money, risk, sex, international wheeling and dealing. It's a goody!” -- Bookviews

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 351 pages
• Publisher: Freshspot Pub; First Edition edition (January 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970141483
• ISBN-13: 978-0970141484
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,351,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My book The New Rules of Marketing & PR opened people's eyes to the new realities of marketing and public relations on the Web. Six months on the BusinessWeek bestseller list and published in more than twenty languages, New Rules is now a modern business classic. My popular blog and hundreds of speaking engagements around the world give me a singular perspective on how businesses are implementing new strategies to reach buyers.

I'm the author of other popular books about marketing including Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History and World Wide Rave: Creating triggers that get millions of people to spread your ideas and share your stories.

I am a recovering VP of marketing for two publicly traded technology companies and was also Asia marketing director for Knight-Ridder, at the time one of the world's largest newspaper and electronic information companies. I've lived and worked in New York, Tokyo, Boston, and Hong Kong and has presented at industry conferences and events in over twenty countries on four continents.

Check out my blog at www.WebInkNow.com

Important note about my Amazon reviews: You may notice all my Amazon reviews are five or four stars. I read (and write) a lot. I'm too busy to read a book I don't like -- there's just so many great books waiting! If a book doesn't capture my interest within a few chapters, I put it down and don't finish. I won't review a book I don't finish, so all my reviews are of books I've enjoyed and get a lot of stars!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Eye Ball Wars A Fast, Fun, Spirited Book! October 18, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

What a sassy little book this is! David Scott, in his first book, takes us into a world of Internet start-ups, media giants, and high finance. The characters are likeable, and the villians are of the kind that you love to hate. He has an excellent sense of place and time, with situations that ring true. As a library worker, I would definately recommend this for the cold, stay by the fire, weekends that are ahead.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars So many angles; so much fun October 17, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Yes! Yes ! Yes! "Eyeball Wars" is refreshing fun and insightful. If you ever wondered what lies beneath the buzz of the internet economy, read this book.

The world seems like a small neighborhood as the charachters find themselves in Japan, the US, Europe and Australia. I don't know what I liked best, the lives of the well developed characters, the accuracy with which work was portrayed in different countries or the way companies are trying to make sense of the new economy. There are many hilarious moments as people, family members, companies and countries fight their own wars.

It is all there in a delightful novel with the human drama, intrigue and a great pace.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book That Captures the Insanity of the New Media Boom February 21, 2001

By Norman M. Valz

Format:Hardcover

David M. Scott was able to capture the fast-paced giddiness of the New Media/Internet boom. This book is one that I couldn't put down. I have worked with new media and internet related companies for about five years, and I haven't read any literature that so completely captured the mindset and atmosphere of that now historic era as was sucessfully done in this book. I highly recommend this as a great read.