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45th out of 246 books
—
417 voters
Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days
"Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days" is a collection of interviews with founders of famous technology companies about what happened in the very earliest days. These people are celebrities now. What was it like when they were just a couple friends with an idea? Founders like Steve Wozniak (Apple), Caterina Fake (Flickr), Mitch Kapor (Lotus), Max Levchin (PayP...more
Hardcover, 456 pages
Published
January 1st 2007
by Apress
(first published 2001)
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fascinating first-hand accounts from founders of now-ubiquitous companies: hotmail, gmail, paypal, yahoo stores, hotornot, apple, etc etc. strangely, the technical aspect is rarely the most difficult part of the company - most of the founders say marketing the product was crazy hard.
interesting factoids you'll pick up from reading the book:
* hotornot was implemented in an afternoon to rate some random girl one of the founders had seen recently. the site spread virally and they had over 50,000 pa...more
interesting factoids you'll pick up from reading the book:
* hotornot was implemented in an afternoon to rate some random girl one of the founders had seen recently. the site spread virally and they had over 50,000 pa...more
Aug 27, 2007
Otis Chandler
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
entrepreneurs
Shelves:
business,
nonfiction
Loved every second of this book. Each chapter is a different story of a startup founder. I read it slowly so it wouldn't end, and read many chapters twice. My biggest take was that most founders didn't necessarily know what they were doing - or even that they were on to something big. But they were all determined to start a company - that was the only thing they all had in common.
Here are some good quotes from the book:
"I'd say determination is the single most important quality in a startup foun...more
Here are some good quotes from the book:
"I'd say determination is the single most important quality in a startup foun...more
4 likes · like · see review
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it's interviews with founders of well-known startups. Apple, Hotmail, Firefox, hotornot, etc... most of the interviewees describe the process in the same way writers describe writing their first books... doing something most certain to fail... loneliness... shame you feel from your friends and family... driving in the dark... In this way, I enjoyed the book. They highlight doing something simply because you must.
it's also fun because some/most of them are clearly batshit.
Some of the best are Wo...more
it's also fun because some/most of them are clearly batshit.
Some of the best are Wo...more
Startup reúne uma série de entrevistas feitas pela autora aos fundadores de várias startups de tecnologia bem sucedidas no mercado norte-americano e global. Entre as empresas citadas estão: Hotmail, Google (GMail), Lotus Development, Yahoo!, RIM (Blackberry) e Apple.
Com algumas perguntas, a autora faz com que os fundadores contem como foi a história de cada uma destas empresas logo no início, muitas delas sendo montadas por universitários sem dinheiro. Falam sobre financiamentos de investidores,...more
Com algumas perguntas, a autora faz com que os fundadores contem como foi a história de cada uma destas empresas logo no início, muitas delas sendo montadas por universitários sem dinheiro. Falam sobre financiamentos de investidores,...more
This book is a compendium of transcripts of interviews between the author and 32 successful entrepreneurs who tell the stories of their businesses. There is no better collection of first hand accounts of what it is really like to be in the pilot's seat of a start-up. It is particularly useful for an entrepreneur looking for a role model in a particular industry or domain.
The strength of this collection of interviews is in its raw immediacy. That is also its weakness. Each interview contains man...more
The strength of this collection of interviews is in its raw immediacy. That is also its weakness. Each interview contains man...more
Another great book, so great I decide to write this post even if I have not finished reading it: Jessica Livingston in Founders at Work has interviewed 32 entrepreneurs about their story. The lessons are convincing, fascinating. Without asking for copyright, I copy here some quotes. The book is just a pleasure to read even if sometimes the Q&A are too specific about the start-up, but I assume it is part of the exercise. A Must-Read.
Paul Buchheit, creator of Gmail about Risk Taking
As I say, f...more
Paul Buchheit, creator of Gmail about Risk Taking
As I say, f...more
This book is an interesting collection of interviews with the founders (or early employees) of 32 different technology startups, from Craigslist, Firefox and Flickr to Yahoo! and Apple.
Because it's a collection of interviews, the usefulness of the stories or the ease of reading vary depending on who is being interviewed (and to a smaller extent, the author's questions). Some founders are better at reflecting upon and summarizing their experiences to be generalizable to readers and aspiring entr...more
Because it's a collection of interviews, the usefulness of the stories or the ease of reading vary depending on who is being interviewed (and to a smaller extent, the author's questions). Some founders are better at reflecting upon and summarizing their experiences to be generalizable to readers and aspiring entr...more
Ever wondered how some of your favorite companies got started? So did author/researcher Jessica Livingston. Her interviews with over two dozen of the most successful recent entrepreneurs reveal a host of common elements essential to understanding the trials and tribulations of the startup business.
For most all of these first time entrepreneurs, the journey was significantly different than they first imagined it. Some companies (eBay, Flickr) didn't even plan to be in the business that hey event...more
For most all of these first time entrepreneurs, the journey was significantly different than they first imagined it. Some companies (eBay, Flickr) didn't even plan to be in the business that hey event...more
“Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days” is a very insightful book, full of informative material and entertainment at the same time. The book, while basically is just a large set of interviews, offers readers a very powerful and insightful look into the entrepreneurial process.
The book is a series of interviews with founders of large and successful technology companies, such as Apple, Yahoo, Paypal, and Hotmail, to name a few. The interviews are done in a very effective manner, short...more
The book is a series of interviews with founders of large and successful technology companies, such as Apple, Yahoo, Paypal, and Hotmail, to name a few. The interviews are done in a very effective manner, short...more
After reading the classic 'Programmers at Work' back in the 1980s, then re-reading it again last year, I was a little disappointed with Founders at Work. The book has the same interview format as Programmers at Work, this time mainly with web startup founders from the 1995-2005 period. There is some overlap with similar individuals interviewed in Programmers at Work, such as Dan Bricklin, Steve Wozniak, and Mitch Kapor. But mainly, you'll read about the guys and gals behind PayPal, Blogger, Yaho...more
This damn book took me forever to read.
I particularly identified with Ev Williams' experience founding Blogger. Although I've obviously not had that kind of success before, I have been through being abandoned by all my friends once.
Part of what bugged me about the book was that it was about the work experiences of people at software startups similar to the one that I'm working at. It can be tiring to come back from a day at a startup office to read stories of other people working at startup offi...more
I particularly identified with Ev Williams' experience founding Blogger. Although I've obviously not had that kind of success before, I have been through being abandoned by all my friends once.
Part of what bugged me about the book was that it was about the work experiences of people at software startups similar to the one that I'm working at. It can be tiring to come back from a day at a startup office to read stories of other people working at startup offi...more
Well, this book only reinforced my prejudice that the only legitimate business degree is a BS in engineering. All but one of the founders interviewed were proper engineers. That the exception was the guy from Lycos is a funny coincidence. It was a useless search engine, talked up like crazy then sold for an absurd amount to the perfect sucker: the state-run telecom monopoly of what was at the time a booming economy, Spain. Of course the hero of the story is the MBA salesman who pulled off the tr...more
Apr 12, 2010
Prakhar Alok
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
entrepreneurs, crazy people, rebels
Is this the book to read or is this THE BOOK to read. This for every young mind out there who wants to learn about the story of the founders of companies that changed the face of Earth, at work. The work environment that these people maintain at their workplace is just what feels right. They havent went to Business schools to learn how to manage their resources, they work from their gut feeling. And the world is following them.
Jessica Livingston has not done a great job by just interviewing the...more
Jessica Livingston has not done a great job by just interviewing the...more
There's a harmful cult of the start-up centred around—mostly—Paul Graham, and this book is, if not their Dianetics, at least their Battlefield Earth.
I wish I could give it a lower score, but I can't, in good faith, because it's exactly what it promises to be and exactly what I thought it was going to be when I picked it up: a gossip rag in book form.
It's the sort of thing dim, greedy assholes could read religiously, but to the rest of us, it mostly serves to drive home the fact that self-describ...more
I wish I could give it a lower score, but I can't, in good faith, because it's exactly what it promises to be and exactly what I thought it was going to be when I picked it up: a gossip rag in book form.
It's the sort of thing dim, greedy assholes could read religiously, but to the rest of us, it mostly serves to drive home the fact that self-describ...more
Profiles a lot of Web 1.0 and 2.0 companies and their rise to mainstream media attention. Livingston does a decent job of digging up stories from the early days of these companies lives and there are trends that are consistent through all the stories: the initial idea was certainly almost always modified before it became a success, they worked really effing hard, and timing is a big deal. Some of these companies are new to me so I couldnt connect the end products with the humble beginnings, but...more
everyone has a bad day/week/month.
Very interesting book. Initial impression was that the author had been quite lazy by choosing to leave the book in the format of:
Q: ...
A: ...
After reading ten or fifteen chapters, I realized how right she was. Reading this book is like taking all of these interesting people to coffee. It is helpful to read their stories and thoughts in their own words. There are clear threads that run between the founders and their sense of what made them successful(or failures). For example: write a business pl...more
Q: ...
A: ...
After reading ten or fifteen chapters, I realized how right she was. Reading this book is like taking all of these interesting people to coffee. It is helpful to read their stories and thoughts in their own words. There are clear threads that run between the founders and their sense of what made them successful(or failures). For example: write a business pl...more
I wasn't expecting much when I received a copy of this book due to the printing work making it look as though it was self-published. But the companies and names listed on the cover were impressive, so I thought "Well, what the heck." But as soon as I started reading I realized what a gem this book was. By the time I got to the end I was raving about it to everyone I knew.
If this isn't the best book I've ever read for entrepreneurs it's certainly on my "Top 5" list. The Four-Hour Work Week, Lean...more
If this isn't the best book I've ever read for entrepreneurs it's certainly on my "Top 5" list. The Four-Hour Work Week, Lean...more
Founders at Work is a collection of 32 interviews done by Jessica Livingston of founders of tech companies. Many of the big names are present: Apple, Adobe, Yahoo, etc. A bunch of people have reviewed this book already, including those who are interviewed for the book, so I thought I would give my personal favorite parts of the book without trying to be comprehensive. The official site could certainly fill you in on the breadth of the book.
To me the most interesting interviews were:
- Steve Wozni...more
To me the most interesting interviews were:
- Steve Wozni...more
What makes this so enjoyable is that there are 30 very different stories that are told. I would get to the end of one chapter, and be anxiously anticipating the next.
There is a tech bent to the book (some chapters are quite technical and will bore the non-tech crowd), but if you are interested in what happens at a startup, this is a great place to begin.
Writing this review makes me want to pickup the book again - I highly recommend it.
There is a tech bent to the book (some chapters are quite technical and will bore the non-tech crowd), but if you are interested in what happens at a startup, this is a great place to begin.
Writing this review makes me want to pickup the book again - I highly recommend it.
I finished it with the impression that one of the target audience is people that haven't made any real steps yet, which I am one of. But there's parts I glossed over, assuming they'll make sense later, meaning that someone already down the road will find the book useful as well, for different reasons.
The writing style is not as polished as, say, one of PG's essays, but it's bearable.
Oh, and if you've read the paperback edition and are wondering who the interviewer was for the author herself, it...more
The writing style is not as polished as, say, one of PG's essays, but it's bearable.
Oh, and if you've read the paperback edition and are wondering who the interviewer was for the author herself, it...more
Really interesting book, full of insight on how some of, now famous, hi-tech companies have started.
It is a must-to-read if you think about starting your own company, and still worth reading if you you do now have such intentions :). You will learn that building successful startup is mostly about hard work and persistence. Success (and money) usually comes much later.
It is a must-to-read if you think about starting your own company, and still worth reading if you you do now have such intentions :). You will learn that building successful startup is mostly about hard work and persistence. Success (and money) usually comes much later.
Riveting deep-inside war stories from those responsible for some of the greatest computing & communications innovations in the latter 20th & early 21st century. Particularly valuable for the close-up view of managerial decision making under extreme uncertainty, and the challenges of sustaining innovation when you become responsible for building a business.
Oh shit this is a boring book. After reading the first couple of founders interviews, then it just becomes a drag to read the rest. It is the same questions almost all are asked, and therefor much the same answers you get from all of them.
On top of this then the startup stories in this book are way to old to really be relevant in today's startup environment. The companies that are portrait are from before the Internet bobble, well in fact from the time when trying to convince investors that the...more
On top of this then the startup stories in this book are way to old to really be relevant in today's startup environment. The companies that are portrait are from before the Internet bobble, well in fact from the time when trying to convince investors that the...more
I liked the format of interviews. it makes one feel very close to the events as they happened. I don't think anyone fathoms the sheer tenacity some founders have. Their success is well deserved. It's also amazing how certain features turn into products when initially the founder had an entirely different roadmap in mind.
Sep 14, 2008
Renjith
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Techies , Geek, Entrepreneurs
Recommended to Renjith by:
amazon
Excellent read for folks who are thinking of starting something. Jessica Livingston talks to popular names in the valley on how they got there . Its very exciting to know about how luck and persistence made some of the most successful companies of our times sail through tough waters .
Since its a collection of interviews you can start reading the book from anywhere. However once you complete the book a theme emerges out of it which explains the general traits of successful startups or their found...more
Since its a collection of interviews you can start reading the book from anywhere. However once you complete the book a theme emerges out of it which explains the general traits of successful startups or their found...more
I love this book from the beginning to the end, one of the most insightul books about the struggling, ups & downs of the founders of a startups that turn out to be in the future big companies, like Apple.A very useful book for everyone who wants to know how the big companies started. Best book ever.
A gem of a book. If you've ever worked at a startup or wondered what it would be like this is a book you can't afford to miss. Granted that almost all of the founders interviewed were successful in their ventures, the best lessons come from one of the few that weren't quite that successful: ArsDigita. It also gives you a very realistic (albeit scary) impression of what role Venture Capital place in this world.
Excellent collection of stories that get right into the soul of what it is like to create a startup. My absolutely favorite is Adobe systems. The entire book is a rare gem, accessible only by Jessica Livingston and her access into the storied members of Silicon Valley.
One of my favorite startup books of all time. I read this while bootstrapping my first startup and it was SO motivating to hear about these guys who worked through all the same struggles we were having and came out on top. Amazing stories. I couldn't put it down.
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