Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure Paperback – October 1, 1996

Engaging and informative but not at the same time

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Blair A. Russell

January 22, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I enjoyed learning the story of something I had not known about before. I appreciated the information, tidbits, insights, and tips. I wish it was done a little more cohesively. Sometimes you would be wrapped up in narrative only to find that you are slowed down by some long winded definition. At other times you really want to know who, what, why something happened and the book completely skips over it leaving you looking back through pages to find where you should have figured things out. It can be jarring trying to remember people when there are big gaps between their introduction and their usefulness. Or trying to remember a definition that was brought up in the beginning of the book but not referred to until the end. I wish I could have his perspective on both but written separately.

The Life of a Business Idea, From Inspiration to Near Success to Crash and Burn

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R P

September 9, 2005

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This was a fun business story told with unusual finesse by Jerry Kaplan. Kaplan has an eye for detail that can make negotiations and other business meetings come alive.

The plot tells the story of a high profile venture in the late 90s, Go Inc., from inspiration through fund raising and product development to fame, near success and ultimate failure. Anyone who may have thought about starting a new venture who wants to sit in the passenger seat and observe the whole ride in detail (though not too much detail -- it's an easy read) will enjoy. I wouldn't say the book is highly educational in a process sense (how to do this, how to do that...), but it does give a lot of high level insight into the difficult tradeoffs and predatory practices that can be confronted in trying to grow a business in high tech. I read it in a few days and enjoyed it thoroughly.

2 people found this helpful

Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure

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Eric Jain

March 31, 2008

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Fascinating story of a (pre-dotcom-bubble) high-tech startup, written from the perspective of the founder. He does a great job of recounting the events, but doesn't breath much life into the characters (other than himself). This book might have been more interesting if it had been written by a neutral person who could have interviewed all the involved people and given us all sides of the story. To be fair, the author (in the end) puts the blame for the failure of the company with their inability to produce a marketable product fast enough (even though there is no shortage of people and organizations he could have blamed). So there's definitely a lot to be learned here -- just don't read this book with the hope of gaining much insight into the minds of the people involved in such ventures.

3 people found this helpful

Interesting and fun -- this was a very enjoyable book!

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M. Saunders

April 11, 1998

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Startup detailed the life of a technical venture from birth to death in a fast-moving and entertaining style. Kaplan does a great job of explaining what it was like to be there and what obstacles they faced in their journey to bring the first pen based computers to market. Kaplan gives an appropriate level of detail when descibing situations without being 'dry'. While another reader didn't like this book because of the superfluous descriptions, I thought this made the book even better -- it gave me a *feeling* of what it would have been like to be there in person. I missed many "bedtimes" when reading this book and I highly recommend it if you're interested in business stories, start-ups, or technology stories.

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August 9, 2008

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More than twenty years have passed since GO Corporation was founded (1987), but the lessons described by Jerry Kaplan still ring true today - the name of the company might as well be any new Web 2.0 startup. How do you turn an idea into a company? The financing, the partnership dance, working with your board and executive management, the technology race, and managing your personal life are all interwoven into a complex network of events that is a life of a startup. Aside from being a fascinating story, 'Startup' is a great text for any entrepreneur filled with dozens of useful quotes and insights.

2 people found this helpful

A riveting story of entrepreneurship

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