Product Description

Masses of entrepreneurs and tech wizards are heading west to seek their fortune and a new destiny. Their Mecca is Silicon Valley, where the only limits are one's own initiative, talent and ideas. The author introduces us to their world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #503819 in Books
• Published on: 2000-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 252 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
By car and by plane, masses of people are heading west to Silicon Valley to make their fortunes. No-one wants to go to Hollywood anymore. Silicon Valley is the only place on earth where you can make mind-boggling sums of money for having talent, ability and just a great idea.

Until now, the world-famous valley has been shrouded in mystery, but in his highly entertaining new book, The Nudist on the Late Shift, Wired journalist Po Bronson reveals the true stories about the real people who are making it happen in the virtual world. Meet the co-founder of Yahoo!, David Filo, worth more than $500 million, who still sleeps under his desk one night a week and thinks nothing of wearing a T-shirt advertising rival search engine Excite. Find out how Sabeer Bhatia dreamt up the idea of a free e-mail service called Hotmail and read how Microsoft's Bill Gates pursued him with unimaginable amounts of money. Meet the programmers who like to split their computer screens in two so they can deal in their own shares and program at the same time; and finally meet the nudist who works the late shift. It's true. There is a programmer who strips off after normal office hours. He does it to assert his freedom.

Po Bronson has spent most of the decade searching for the best true Silicon Valley stories. Before you head west to try to make your fortune, be certain you read this book or at least remember to take it with you. --Justin Hunt

Customer Reviews

Truly a classic
One's instant response to Bronson's tale of the highs and lows of silicon valley's cycle of creativity and production is that it perfectly defines, as well as captures, the "Zeitgeist". Within the body of this book is the evidence of the rapidity of change which characterises this industry of driven men, women and ideas. Entrepreneurs who were not fast, clever or well-connected enough to read the last passing wave are chasing deals too small to interest the venture capitalists who had moved from investing $5 million to $50 million, leaving those with a small idea bereft of the means of realisation. The style of writing is intense and forensic - character assessments are the equivalent of the 25 word pitch, and just as effective. The chapters deal with generic groupings - "The Programmers", "The Entrepeneurs", "The Salespeople" - Bronson kept my interest by moving from the often superficial personages adorning the pages of "The Newcomers" to "The IPO" - a riveting inside view of the public floatation of Actuate which is a platform for a description of the evolution of CEO Nico Nierenberg from internally effective, to publicly impressive cyber-industry magnate. It is this privileged access to the guts and personalities of software product development and commercialisation which maintains the readers' interest. If that sounds dry - just take a risk and read it. Bronson's description of the Java programmers who have become the essential generators of companies' web products fascinates. Kevin, Max and Jason are rebels, live for the moment, fly by the seats of their pants (sometimes literally in Max's case) and articulate their dominance by the elegance and robustness of of their code. Of course, these be-earringed non-conformists might have been surfers or musicians in another age. Now they are just too talented and too highly paid to be mired in the world of the truly alternative. When Max goes squirrel hunting shortly before a crucial demonstration deadline, the freedom of the late 20th Century pieceworker earns its ultimate expression.

This was written a year ago - with hindsight it is truly a classic.

Entertaining insight into Silicon Valley
I really enjoyed this book, lots of little 'fly on the wall' anecdotes about recent events.

I'm now a customer of the Company that featured in the section on the IPO, and it was really interesting to read about the trials & tribulations they went through before I'd ever heard of them.

What an insight into the mad Silicon Valley gold rush!
If you want a fascinating insight into the lives of the venture capitalists, geeks and entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley, this is it. A fascinating and inspirational series of anecdotes of the roller coaster ride enjoyed (!) by the inhabitants of the largest wealth creation zone in human history.