Customer Reviews

Valley Boy: The Education of Tom Perkins

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4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Don't expect "Valley Boy" to be a full autobiography of Tom Perkins. He seems to be much too private to reveal the most intimate aspects of his life--his wife's death serves only as an introduction to a race he got involved in as a way of dealing with his loss, his children are barely mentioned, and his marriage to and divorce from novelist Danielle Steel is only dealt in a "celebrity interview"--but the stories he does tell are absolutely worth reading.

Writing about his beginnings as "one of American venture capitalist's founding fathers," a race that ended up with him being charged with manslaughter in France, his purchase (and help with the design) of the largest private sailboat in the world, fights at the San Francisco Ballet, or his resignation from Hewlett Packard, Perkins offers his stories with candor and (refreshingly for a man of his power and wealth) a sense of humor about himself. Even if you're not particularly interested in Silicon Valley or sailing, you'll enjoy this book, by a man who has lived a very full life.

"The skeptics so out numbered the believers that I had stopped listening."

"And never proven in practice with nearly six years of risk-taking on the line."

"The betting was against me."

"They hadn't for a moment truly dared to hope that anyone in the world would take on so much risk. And to this day I believe that I was the only person who would have done so."

"But why not?... I had spent my career managing high-tech high risk; there should be a way to "put the risk up front." The essence of the program I had in mind was testing.... I hoped to have proof of principle in hand before the major flow of money into the build program was underway."

"There was something in his personality that was very assuring. I decided to gamble on his promise. I said yes."

"The agreement proved to benefit all parties. As in any good deal, it had to be fair to all parties."

"In that glance and with just a nod between us, we discarded all the planned slow testing which had been so carefully outlined; we were going for it. "In five minutes, we would know everything."

"And after those minutes the results of five and half of work, and the investment of the national budget of a banana republic, were indeed in: (it) was a stunning success - a stupendous breakthrough. I HAD GAMBLED AND I HAD WON!"

These quotes from the last chapter of "Valley Boy" capture Tom Perkins' thoughts while developing and building the largest private sailboat in the world, the Maltese Falcon. They also capture the essence of Perkins in everything he turned his attention to - creating a venture capital firm that reshaped venture investing, creating venture companies that reshaped or created whole industries, serving on boards of major US and non-US companies, and reshaping the San Francisco Ballet Company into one of the world's top ballet companies.

Perkins, in this very well written and readable autobiography, covers his childhood; his early interest in physics (Mr. Wilson, his high school physics teacher was the first person in Tom's life to pay him any serious attention); his early introduction, while at MIT, to venture capital through Harvard Professor Georges Doriot; the role of David Packard, Hewlett Packard founder as a mentor, and as the father he so desperately needed; the love of his life, wife and Norwegian beauty, Gerd Thune-Ellefsen who died on August 20, 1994 (There really is love at first sight..."To this day I carry a snapshot of Gerd."); the founding of Kleiner Perkins and the KP formula ("We had a more of a hands-on approach than was the mode at the time."); the founding of Tandem Computers and Genentech; his short marriage to and on-going relationship with author Daniel Steele; the most challenging period of my career as he led the search to rebuild the San Francisco Ballet; his love of sailing and design of sailing vessels; and his well-publicized board dispute while on the Board of Hewlett-Packard.

Readers will find "Valley Boy" a great behind the scenes read as the book is loaded with nuggets. Perkins spreads the credit around, is contrite ("...but I failed... probably much of it was my fault."), and introspective (libertarian, impatient, and very, very decisive). There is also plenty of silicon valley history with Perkins talking about the early days, the emergence of several Valley luminaries - Dave Packard & Bill Hewlett, Don Lucas, Bill Davidow, John Young, Jimmy Treybig, Sandy Robertson, Bill Hambrecht, John Doerr, and Brook Byers - and his close relationship with Gene Kleiner.

Perkins epitomizes experience coupled with judgment. He demonstrates a keen desire to learn and never backs away from the experience of something new (he even served as a volunteer fireman while in his 50s!). More importantly, he has developed the important and elusive quality of judgment. With good judgment, little else matters. Without it, nothing else matters. His leadership is, at its marrow, the chronicle of his judgment calls.

"Valley Boy" shows that Perkins has wisely processed and integrated experience, reflection, valid sources of timely information, openness to the unbidden and character. Perkins has shared more than most making this a must read for those who strive to be successful venture investors, entrepreneurs, or want to understand what it takes to create breakthroughs when skeptics well outnumber the believers.

The good parts are great. But there are also slow parts. First of all, this is not a biography although it is a shortened version biography. The first two chapters cover controversial periods of his life where he wants to get his side of the story heard, most notably the HP board spying controversy overwhich he resigned. Once he gets this off his chest there are some exceptional short stories, particularly his career at HP of which I had no idea. Obviously this experience is how he became the wealthy venture capitalist through the invaluable experience in the growth of HP and his close access to Packard and Hewlett as well as the many other Valley stars who were there at the time.

Where this book loses its way or becomes less interesting is when the author branches in to subjects that are diverse and of interest to him but maybe not the reader. For example, his sojurn into writing a cheesy novel which I previously read may not be of interest. Or, a reprinted interview about his short-term second wife, novelist Danielle Steele may not be of interest. Particularly when he insinuates that the interview cannot be believed. One thing is for sure, if you have no interest in sailing, this boat is definitely not for you as that is his passion including a complete chapter on a favorite novelist specializing in Clipper ships who he befriends. This is about 1/3 of the book.

All these sections have their own interest but I cannot overstate the value of his business discussions about HP and subsequently starting the famous venture capital firm which made him incredibly wealthy. this covers about 33% of the book.

There is one part of the book that is not covered sufficiently, the story of his wife of over thirty years who dies of cancer. Yes, it's covered briefly and their story is an incredible love story. But for the most passionate part of his life you would expect more. I would also mention there is a stunning picture confirming her beauty. On another note, there is virtually no mention of his children which I found surprising.

In summary, I do strongly recommend this book as Perkins' business contribution is significant to our national economy as he demonstrates here. Also, it is a very short read easily handled in a long day of plane travel.

Tom takes the opportunity to get his view of events in his life on the record. Very doubtful as biography, this book is more of an attempt to sway public interpretation of events in his long career, spanning early years in Hewlett Packard, the formation of the Kleiner Perkins venture capital firm, his sailing exploits, his marriage to Danielle Steele, and how he chose to use his vast wealth to influence events and people he encountered. Right up front he deals with the spying incidents at Hewlett Packard when Pattie Dunn was the chairwoman (very condescending), as well as his relationship with Carly Fiorina (very confrontational and rocky), but most of it comes off as self-serving and slanted to his view. Yet, the book is interesting as an peek into the restless and eclectic mind of the ultimate bootstrapper, a man who leveraged his times and opportunites into one of the most successful careers on record. Despite this, it also serves as a warning to those who believe great wealth is matched with great wisdom, since clearly, his wealth was poured into his world class collection of toys and houses. Take heed.

"I'm not a writer," claims Tom Perkins. But plop into a chair with "Valley Boy" and you discover a wonderful storyteller recounting an accomplished life pursued full sail. Perkins entertains with unique experiences from the top of the food chain, written in a friendly tone, often self-deprecating and tongue-in-cheek.

By the end of the memoir, you feel you've spent a fine evening with Tom Perkins, that he is your friend. Yet, he drops plenty of hints that he can be an asshole, creating tension just by entering a room. And only penultimate self-absorption could spur a man to build a boat that far exceeds the dollar and technology equivalent of a Stealth bomber.

The fascinating aspect of this book is to question why anyone with such excessive wealth would share his life so openly. Yes, there is some effort to describe his past controversies in the most attractive light. (BTW, it's Raab not Robb). Yes, he flings some last dirt over his enemies. And maybe he senses his time has come, that he will soon succumb to a multi-generational heart murmur.

Perhaps he revealed his motivation when he admitted to the Commonwealth Club that he checks his Amazon reviews daily. Even as the most successful venture capitalist ever, Tom Perkins still needs validation. Like Citizen Kane, this fascinating Valley Boy needs a rosebud. Who can resist reading about a complex man like that?

`Tiger head with a snake tail' is a Chinese proverb to describe something that has an impressive start but a weak ending. This book is exactly like that.
The first part of this book is very interesting. But the author just went on vacation during the last part. The book should be renamed: `From Valley Boy to Ocean Boy (or Play Boy)'.

I found the book to be intriguing and very readable, but overall not a worthy contribution to much of anything, really.

Perkins realizes his childhood experiences had a dramatic effect on him; were the source of both his success and problems in life. We learn in some detail that no amount of money can buy lasting happiness. He almost admits he joined the HP board specifically to oust Dunn at the invitation of Packard...but not quite. He can also buy the world's fastest sailing yaught, and a bunch of houses and expensive cars.

What Perkins should do is write a scholarly book on new ventures, management, strategy and/or venture capital. That would be something for which he is uniquely qualified, or should be. He could use the process he pioneered at KPCB: put together a world class team and go for it.

That book would be a worthy contribution along the lines of any of the companies he founded or funded, or the Maltese Falcon, etc.

This book surprised me. I had seen the author on several TV shows and thought he was self absorbed but i bought the book because i wanted to find out about the roots of "silicon valley". Turns out the autheor is a tremendously interesting writer, obviously, extremely brilliant and I would heartily recommend the book. in addition, i'd like to spend somne time with the auther, he has an amazing mind.

So I read Mines Bigger by David Kaplan and was interested to read more about Mr Perkins, so I found Valley Boy and read it. I am truly interested in Tom's story and business touch. Its been inspirational reading for me and I felt a connection with the boating and yachting stories as I share the same hobbies and interests like cars, etc. I highly recommend the book to anyone! Also go online and google (a KP start) either Tom Perkins or his yacht the Maltesse Falcon. There are a couple great videos out there on you tube, etc. to help sum anything up. If you still read the amazon reviews as you said in an interview, Thanks Tom! Great Book and Great Story! But why did you sell the Falcon?

fascinating story of success.brilliant understanding of technology and native savvy for marketing. worth reading.