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Billy Gallagher

How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars: The Snapchat Story Hardcover – February 13, 2018

by Billy Gallagher (Author)

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"In the grand tradition of Ben Mezrich's The Accidental Billionaires (2009)... an engaging look into a fascinating subculture of millions." ―Booklist

"Breezy...How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars ably if uncritically chronicles the short history of a young company catering to young users, with a young chief executive, and reveals, intentionally or not, the limitations that come with that combination." ―Wall Street Journal

The improbable and exhilarating story of the rise of Snapchat from a frat boy fantasy to a multi-billion dollar internet unicorn that has dramatically changed the way we communicate.

In 2013 Evan Spiegel, the brash CEO of the social network Snapchat, and his co-founder Bobby Murphy stunned the press when they walked away from a three-billion-dollar offer from Facebook: how could an app teenagers use to text dirty photos dream of a higher valuation? Was this hubris, or genius?

In How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars, tech journalist Billy Gallagher takes us inside the rise of one of Silicon Valley's hottest start-ups. Snapchat developed from a simple wish for disappearing pictures as Stanford junior Reggie Brown nursed regrets about photos he had sent. After an epic feud between best friends, Brown lost his stake in the company, while Spiegel has gone on to make a name for himself as a visionary―if ruthless―CEO worth billions, linked to celebrities like Taylor Swift and his wife, Miranda Kerr.

A fellow Stanford undergrad and fraternity brother of the company’s founding trio, Gallagher has covered Snapchat from the start. He brings unique access to a company Bloomberg Business called “a cipher in the Silicon Valley technology community.” Gallagher offers insight into challenges Snapchat faces as it transitions from a playful app to one of the tech industry’s preeminent public companies. In the tradition of great business narratives, How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars offers the definitive account of a company whose goal is no less than to remake the future of entertainment.

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publisher

St. Martin's Press
Publication date

February 13, 2018
Dimensions

6.43 x 1.21 x 9.62 inches
ISBN-10

1250108616
ISBN-13

978-1250108616
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a do-not-miss book for avid followers of the tech world and its financial dealings." ―Publishers Weekly

"If you're as confused as I was about Snapchat, whether to swipe left or right, or why the company has so captivated users and mystified Wall Street, you must read Billy Gallagher's penetrating portrait of the company's early days and the rise of its imperious founder, Evan Spiegel." ―Brad Stone, author of The Everything Store and The Upstarts

"An intimate and entertaining look at one of the world's most misunderstood tech companies, told in a way that, amazingly, will resonate with both Snapchat devotees and those who have never used the app." ―Blake J. Harris, author of Console Wars

About the Author

Billy Gallagher is an MBA candidate at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. Previously, he was a member of the investment team at Khosla Ventures and a writer at TechCrunch, which he joined as a Stanford sophomore, writing a profile of a popular startup on campus: Snapchat. His writing has appeared in the New York Times and Playboy. He lives in Palo Alto.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Press (February 13, 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250108616
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250108616
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.43 x 1.21 x 9.62 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,112,503 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #155 in Computer & Technology Biographies
- #595 in Computers & Technology Industry
- #3,053 in Business Professional's Biographies

Customer Reviews:
4.0 214 ratings

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Billy Gallagher

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Billy Gallagher is an MBA candidate at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. Previously, he was a member of the investment team at Khosla Ventures and a writer at TechCrunch, which he joined as a Stanford sophomore, writing a profile of a popular startup on campus: Snapchat. His writing has appeared in the New York Times and Playboy. He lives in Palo Alto.

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Alan

What Snapchat is, and is not

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 27, 2018

Verified Purchase

Once you read this account of Snap’s history, you will know that:

1. Snap does not think of itself as a social network. On the contrary, Snap’s value on non-permanence and authenticity makes it an anti-FB and anti-IG;

2. Snap, instead, thinks of itself as a media company, where lots of the contents are professionally produced or curated or both; in other words, it is the new TV and new magazine;

3. This is not surprising given Spiegel’s personal hobbies and media industry connections, including and especially members of his board;

4. Spiegel’s idol is Jobs, not tech geniuses, which has several implications:
a) They believe users don’t always know what they want, and it is up to the company to introduce products and features;
b) They want to control the entire user experience, which makes the eco-systems close-ended rather than open-ended;
c) Combined these could lead to one-sided product/feature changes that might seem borderline arrogant to users and outsiders from time to time

5. Business model wise, Snap Inc. appears less scalable than FB because media production is more labor-intensive, whereas FB contents are mostly UGC (user generated);

Snap’s metrics and measurement capabilities for advertisers also seems less sophisticated than those of FB, although one can argue this is by choice from Snap’s part, out of its values regarding user privacy and intimacy.

Overall, Snap is still a new company and the runway is long ahead of it with lots of uncertainties. Would be interested to see how their business and revenue model change in the next few years. Also, whether Tencent’s investment would impact Snap: in the sense that Tencent in its early days also faced monetization issues with its messaging system and a user demographic comprising mostly of teens. Tencent of course took advantage of its huge user base and became a giant gaming company (actually the largest by revenue).

One final takeaway is that, though still very young, Mr. Spiegel seems a super-fast learner and certainly seems to know what he is doing. So good luck Snapping!

19 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Pretty Mediocre as Far as Startup Histories Go - Worth Reading if You're Thinking About Starting a Company in the Social Space

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 27, 2018

Verified Purchase

I had high expectations for this book - lately I've been reading a lot of books in this genre (early histories of successful tech startups). However, I was disappointed; this didn't rise to the top of the pack, or even the middle. The beginning parts are very interesting, as Billy was on the ground floor of Snapchat's earliest days and he's able to recount quite well how it went from nothing to something. He does a good job building this into a clear picture of what Snapchat actually is, how it's differentiated from other social platforms, and why it is so commonly misunderstood.

However, as he gets further and further into the book, Mr. Gallagher falls victim to the startup chroniclers' worst victim, hero worship - almost as badly as Ashlee Vance does in his book on Elon Musk. Much like that one, the later parts of this book just felt like an advertisement, with Mr Gallagher excitedly discussing what cool new features Snapchat has planned for the future and how awesome they are going to be, instead of digging in to the company or its recent history with any depth or critical insight.. I struggled through the second half, and it hindsight I'm not sure it was worth my time to read (I was expecting a discussion of the IPO - there basically wasn't one).

It's a shame Brad Stone gave a blurb for this book as it doesn't even come close to the level of quality of one of his startup histories, such as The Upstarts (about Uber and Airbnb), or perhaps the best book in the genre, The Everything Store (about Amazon). This book also doesn't match up to Kirkpatrick's The Facebook Effect.

Overall a good effort, but pretty disappointed with how it turned out - I was expecting a lot more. However, if you're investing in Snapchat or looking to start a company in the social space, it's definitely worth your time, as it really does provide a lot of insight into the very earliest days of Snapchat, and how it got off the ground.

14 people found this helpful

Helpful

wonder_bread

I'm a 23-year-old who has been using the app pretty much since it's founding and I personally thought the ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 20, 2018

Verified Purchase

Giving the book 5 stars is admittedly a bit of a stretch considering how there are still plenty of dark holes that still prevent you from understanding the full picture of the company. However, given the limited resources the author seemed to be dealing with in regards to accessibility of employee's at the company, he did a fabulous job explaining the story from his vantage point. I'm a 23-year-old who has been using the app pretty much since it's founding and I personally thought the book did a great job of explaining everything working behind the scenes that resulted in the changes you noticed as a user but didn't think twice about. I should also say that if you are currently, or are considering investing in $SNAP you are going to find information in this book you can't get in news outfits. Overall, a great book, and I certainly hope there will be a sequel in store as Snapchat progresses. Every great company seems to have a journalist who has a knack for explaining the narrative behind it (Walter Isaacson with Apple, Ashlee Vance with Tesla/SpaceX, etc.) and I certainly think Billy could be that for Snap.

4 people found this helpful

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Anonymous

You would never imagine that Billy is a first time ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 14, 2018

Verified Purchase

You would never imagine that Billy is a first time author after reading this book! He wraps you into the intriguing story of Snapchat’s founding in a way that makes it tough to put down the book. It’s a story that rivals Facebook’s first beginnings and well worth a read. I’m hoping to one day join a startup or maybe create a company of my own and I will forever be leaning on Billy’s insights when I do. I hope we don’t have to wait too long for Billy’s next book!

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Fun book, but sounds like its a PR tool for SNAP

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 1, 2018

Verified Purchase

Gives some flavor to the history and culture of snap. Clearly gives the difference in the working styles of Evan and other tech founders. But on many occasions the writing sounds as if it's done by an employee or friend of Spiegal, not an objective journalist. Very gushing and over-the-top. I prefer brad stone or Scott Galloway.

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