After the dot com crash, many people thought it was the end of the internet era. They were mistaken, as a new wave of internet initiatives have begun, focused on blogging, social networking and file sharing, and dubbed Web 2.0. Many of us are familiar with the sites of Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, but how did these phenomenons begin? And why are they so popular? This book explores the stories behind these sites, quashing the rumours and explaining how these internet giants began. It also uncovers the start-up stories behind Digg, Six Apart, Slide, Founders Fund, Yelp, LinkedIn, Twitter, Ning, and Revision3. These compelling accounts are put together through interviews with the founders of these companies. Author, Sarah Lacy has reported on start-ups and venture capital for Business Week in Silicon Valley for nearly a decade and was one of the only journalists who stayed around after the dot com crash.
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Intimate, behind the scenes glimpses into Silicon Valley --Mark Horowitz, WIRED Lacy obviously spent a great deal of time with these celebrated entrepreneurs. Her descriptions of their business meetings come complete with snatches of you-are-there dialogue, a la Bob Woodward. --Katie Hafner - New York Times Book Review With the collapse of the Internet Bubble, the mainstream media wrote off Silicon Valley and the dot.com world as dead stories - and thus missed the birth of an even bigger and more far-reaching Web phenomenon: on-line communities and social networks, the so-called Web 2.0. Happily, one intrepid reporter, Sarah Lacy, stayed on - and she now has given us what will likely be the only real record of what happened during that remarkable era.
Her portrayals of the founders of companies such as Facebook and Twitter are dead-on, and her reporting will no doubt be a vital source on this amazing time for generations to come. --Michael S. Malone, author of Bill & Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World's Greatest Company --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Mr. M. Haque
Format:Hardcover
I bought this book thinking I would get an insight into the three companies mentioned on the cover...namely Facebook, Myspace and YouTube. Having already read 'The Accidental Billionaires', the story of Facebook, I was more interested in reading about YouTube and Myspace and as I didn't know much about how these companies were created.
To my immense disappointment, the amount of text on these two companies found in this book wouldn't even fit onto one page...literally. That is no exaggeration, there isn't a chapter about them, there isn't anything. Only Facebook gets a single chapter for itself, which skims the surface.
The book should actually be called "What happened to the people who made PayPal after they left", because actually that is the majority of what this book is about. If you want to know about that, then by it and you will be well informed. If you want to know about Facebook, Myspace and YouTube, buy something else.
To my immense disappointment, the amount of text on these two companies found in this book wouldn't even fit onto one page...literally. That is no exaggeration, there isn't a chapter about them, there isn't anything. Only Facebook gets a single chapter for itself, which skims the surface.
The book should actually be called "What happened to the people who made PayPal after they left", because actually that is the majority of what this book is about. If you want to know about that, then by it and you will be well informed. If you want to know about Facebook, Myspace and YouTube, buy something else.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A. Naisbitt
Format:Hardcover
I was initially buying books to help me develop and market social media sites and this popped up on the recommendations so I bought it on a whim. Needless to say I didn't really know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised.
The book gives a great insight into the people, companies and deals behind the biggest websites on the internet and, whilst there is nothing to really "learn" from it, it was a really interesting read - especially learning about the "PayPal Mafia".
If you're looking to build the next Facebook, this isn't what you need. If you're interested in the web and finding out about some of the players behind the biggest successes (and the fact you could count them on two hands!), you'll do worse than buy this book.
The book gives a great insight into the people, companies and deals behind the biggest websites on the internet and, whilst there is nothing to really "learn" from it, it was a really interesting read - especially learning about the "PayPal Mafia".
If you're looking to build the next Facebook, this isn't what you need. If you're interested in the web and finding out about some of the players behind the biggest successes (and the fact you could count them on two hands!), you'll do worse than buy this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The title of the book is simple but its contents are more complex. Only chapters 7 and 8 are devoted to Facebook whilst the rest of the book establishes a context into which this phenomenon fits. What we have here is an analysis of the events and personalities that were involved in some of the most successful Internet companies to emerge from Silicon Valley from the mid 1990s to date.
But I don't think that is a problem as what you get is an idea of how the idea of social networking sites evolved over the years. This includes the parallel development of open source software (e.g, Firefox) and peer to peer applications (e.g. BitTorrent) - whose origins were unknown to me. However, what I do find strange, and potentially disturbing, is that many of the key players would even describe themselves as being `socially awkward' and I hope the same does not go for the millions worldwide who are virtually addicted to logging on.
One thing that I did learn from this book is the concept of the `digitalisation of identity', where the aim is to know what you want before you even know yourself. This is a significant step on from the `recommendations' based on past purchases from sites such as Amazon and online supermarkets. If this is successful there are untold riches to be made in Silicon Valley whilst the vast majority of the `work' is done by the average punter. One quote from the book makes a salient point - "Once you had people's essences on your site, you could make your site into a hub of their work or social lives." (p171)
If you want to learn about Facebook use it. If you want to learn why Facebook this book might have some of the answers.
But I don't think that is a problem as what you get is an idea of how the idea of social networking sites evolved over the years. This includes the parallel development of open source software (e.g, Firefox) and peer to peer applications (e.g. BitTorrent) - whose origins were unknown to me. However, what I do find strange, and potentially disturbing, is that many of the key players would even describe themselves as being `socially awkward' and I hope the same does not go for the millions worldwide who are virtually addicted to logging on.
One thing that I did learn from this book is the concept of the `digitalisation of identity', where the aim is to know what you want before you even know yourself. This is a significant step on from the `recommendations' based on past purchases from sites such as Amazon and online supermarkets. If this is successful there are untold riches to be made in Silicon Valley whilst the vast majority of the `work' is done by the average punter. One quote from the book makes a salient point - "Once you had people's essences on your site, you could make your site into a hub of their work or social lives." (p171)
If you want to learn about Facebook use it. If you want to learn why Facebook this book might have some of the answers.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Face book story
An slightly misleading title but still an interesting read giving some insights into some of the big players on the internet.
Published on 3 Mar 2010 by John Gunn
5.0 out of 5 stars
A behind the scenes look at the leaders of Web 2.0
A very entertaining read that allowed me to get a look at the, 'behind the scenes' people who make these great new companies. Read more
Published on 24 Jan 2010 by M. Ahmed
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointed!
This book is very confused and all over the place...the reader has to get nearly half way through the book before facebook even gets mentioned in any real detail. Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2009 by Ms Tanya-jayne Park
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