Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good
If you are thinking of starting a Web 2.0 company, you should probably read Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0 by Sarah Lacy.
The book shows how the rules have changed since the crash a few years ago. Thanks to open source technology, broadband and more net users, companies like Facebook didn't need a ton of VC money to get started. The book covers how people like Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook) and others had the advantage of mentors who made many mistakes back in the 90's and were determined not to let them suffer the same fate.
Besides Zuckerberg, the book covers several other entrepreneurs of past and present. It seems that you can't keep a good entrepreneur down. Marc Andreessen of Netscape fame is back with Ning, as well as Max Levchin of PayPal who is now running Slide.
The Nontrepreneur
"Evan simply didn't know if he was up for it. He was part of this new breed of creative Web nontrepreneur. He wasn't the world's best coder. He didn't like being the CEO. He just liked coming up with the idea ..."
Besides the enterpreneurs, I found the chapter titled The Nontrepreneur fascinating. It covers people like Evan Williams (Blogger - the software I'm using to post this) who is the total opposite of Zuckerberg. It sounds like he'd like to live comfortably like the rest of us, living off his creations. But he doesn't have the need to build a multi-billion dollar platform. Kevin Rose of Digg fame is somewhere in between. This contrast of personalities helps round out the book.
The book shows how the rules have changed since the crash a few years ago. Thanks to open source technology, broadband and more net users, companies like Facebook didn't need a ton of VC money to get started. The book covers how people like Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook) and others had the advantage of mentors who made many mistakes back in the 90's and were determined not to let them suffer the same fate.
Besides Zuckerberg, the book covers several other entrepreneurs of past and present. It seems that you can't keep a good entrepreneur down. Marc Andreessen of Netscape fame is back with Ning, as well as Max Levchin of PayPal who is now running Slide.
The Nontrepreneur
"Evan simply didn't know if he was up for it. He was part of this new breed of creative Web nontrepreneur. He wasn't the world's best coder. He didn't like being the CEO. He just liked coming up with the idea ..."
Besides the enterpreneurs, I found the chapter titled The Nontrepreneur fascinating. It covers people like Evan Williams (Blogger - the software I'm using to post this) who is the total opposite of Zuckerberg. It sounds like he'd like to live comfortably like the rest of us, living off his creations. But he doesn't have the need to build a multi-billion dollar platform. Kevin Rose of Digg fame is somewhere in between. This contrast of personalities helps round out the book.
posted by Mitch Allen at
8:17 AM
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