Customer Reviews

The Godfather of Silicon Valley: Ron Conway and the Fall of the Dot-coms

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I found it reprehensible that the author (who was invited by the individual he ended up attacking) to have a look at the working of a man's business and social life, would choose to make so many irrelevant personal criticisms. His entire piece (and it is but a piece being a very small book) is suspect when he makes comments such as Mr. Conway is somehow intellectually limited because he reads only business publications and books even when he is vacation. I guess I had better hide this book in a Tom Clancy novel when I'm at the beach. His personnel attacks became much more pointed and are not worth repeating.

There probably is a sensational business story within this subject but since the story was tarted up with such cheap shots at Mr. Conway that this author's objectivity comes into in question. Perhaps Mr Rivlin would have preferred that everyone keep a low profile and just buy another beach house instead of hosting lavish parties and wantonly throwing money at children's health charities.

A fine attempt, but it comes up lacking. First, the book is short and reads quick. I had the feeling that this would have been better off being a Washington Post 3 part series (boring series though). All characters are sketchy and I never found myself caring about any of them. I found dot.bomb a much better read.

Rivlin has written a marvelous, entertaining peek into the strange alice-in-wonderland world of high tech finance. Rivlin didn't allow himself to be co-opted by his subjects and the result is a frank and honest view that will make some insiders wince, but delight anyone trying to understand what makes Silicon Valley tick.

This is a fast, easy read. Perhaps it's a bit cruel to kick a man while he is down. But it sure is something to watch the action as he accelerates down the dot-com highway and then crash horribly.

Read this book, learn very little, but what's a few hours in a down economy?

The dot-com rise and fall that you can read in a couple of sittings. Rivlin does a really good job of telling the story of the madness of the dot-com bubble, and then its precipitous fall, through the story of one man, Ron Conway, who invested in more Internet startups (240) than anyone else. Rivlin has a good eye for detail, and his descriptions of some of the crazier ideas that Conway funded alone are worth the price of the book. You know things are going to end badly but that's the fun of this book, Rivlin somehow manages to make it all suspensful.

I have read all four of Rivlin's books and whether he is writing about Chicago's first black mayor Harold Washington or Bill Gates, I have always found his reportage highly skilled and his writing, while occasionally biting in style, is descriptive, crisp and easy-to-read. That would apply to "King of the Angels" as well. The fact that Conway "invited" Rivlin to follow him for a few days should not preclude Rivlin from including "warts" in his portrayal of Conway, as the previous reviewer suggests. I look forward to Rivlin's next book.

In some ways this book reads like an extended magazine article, although it does provide a little more context than that. It is a very interesting Internet stock bubble saga and the author shows that he had primary access to Ron Conway and his main partner Bob Bozeman. It also didn't hurt that Conway provided a binder full of information detailing who was in his angel funds and how much they put in. At the same time the book easily could have done without some of the snideness, especially toward Conway personally. The author also admittedly takes some partisan swipes at Red Herring (he last worked at a main competitor to Red Herring, the now-defunct Industry Standard). But the fallout from this story is what Conway himself told Business Week earlier this year: "When the Bubble burst, all hell broke loose!" This book gives a good sense of why that was especially true for Conway and his angel investors.

Hello,
I don't have a friendship with Ron Conway at this time, but I did grow up on the same street in SF with him and his large family as a young child and as fate would have it, ended up working for one of his start up companies in the 80's in Menlo Park.

I hadn't seen him since childhood, and was happy to see and know that he turned out to be a kind, generous, smart individual that treated his employees with dignity and respect. What more could you ask for?

He has done more for the growth of Silicon Valley than anyone I know and we are blessed to have him as one of our visionary leaders and investors.
I have a friend that works with alot of startups and angel investors VC's as a consultant , Sally Pera at PeraConnect.com, that keeps me abreast of all the workings in this marketplace.

If I saw him again I would thank him personally for all he's done for our Valley and a personal thankyou from me.

Kate Riser