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The Venture Cafe
Oh, no, I thought. Not another one of these rags-to-riches, I've-got-mine and-so-now-I'm-going-to-rub-your-face-in-it type books.
Thanks, but I've had enough. And then I took a moment to actually read this thing.
Turns out that this Teresa Esser isn't even an entrepreneur -- she's the wife of an entrepreneur. So what business does she have trying to tell me how to start a company?
Esser watched her husband start an Ethernet telephone firm that was eventually sold to 3Com for $90 million. After the company was sold, she spent three years interviewing 150 entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, corporate lawyers and high-tech headhunters about how a person can start their own high-tech company.
She interviewed members of the MIT blackjack team, asking them what it was like to gamble with other people's money. That's what the high-tech entrepreneurs were doing, you know, when they were financing their businesses with venture capital.
A lot of these new companies wound up going out of business. But some of them did not. Some of the new companies ACTUALLY SUCCEEDED at creating wealth for their investors -- including their venture capitalists, which more often than not happen to be pension funds.
So, when these high-tech entrepreneurs succeed at solving a problem and creating a solution and getting the product to market, and achieving a liquidity event, they make money for their investors.
There are a lot of business authors who spend half of the book thanking their wives for putting up with their obnoxious behavior and the other half bragging about how great they are.
Teresa Esser doesn't brag, really. I have to say, I admired how candid Esser was when she was talking about serious problems, like the time her husband got burned out and had to leave his company.
This was obviously a very painful experience, but she lays it all on the line. Esser didn't have to go back and dredge up those repressed memories about what it was like when her husband was on the verge of losing control of the technical direction his company was taking, and freaked out and asked Esser to turn off the electricity so that they would have to prematurely end an annoying board meeting.
She didn't have to fly to White Plains, New York and convince the God of high-tech headhunting, Chuck Ramsey, to spill the beans on how exactly you convince an top-ranked executive to leave his job and join a high-tech startup.
But she did.She could have spent the past three years lying on the beach in the Bahamas, drinking pina coladas and putting on sunscreen. Instead, she schlepped around Boston's financial district, asking jaded venture capitalists how an unknown entrepreneur could increase her chances of obtaining venture capital financing.
You know, most of these dot-com brag books make me sick. But I have to say, this one made me laugh.
I liked the story about the rat. These two kids started a company out of a disgusting apartment in Philadelphia and they tried to have a formal business meeting with a director of new business development from a Wall Street financial firm, but it was hard because they had these twelve-inch rats.
When the director of new business development came to visit, they didn't even have any clean cups to serve him tap water in. That story was funny. They gave the director of new business development a dirty dinosaur cup that they had gotten free from Burger King. And then he left. And the guys tried to figure out what had gone wrong with the meeting.
I mean, okay, okay. It's hard to start a new company. But with a book like this, at least you know that you're not the only one going through hard times.
To go through your own hard times, you can from The Venture Cafe from bn.com Also, check out The Venture Cafe web site. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to submit yours, read the book review guidelines, then hit the submission page.
it's watching a bunch of rich, fat, overpaid, overhyped
Until here I thought you were talking about union workers.
dot-con executives
Well, they are usually a waste, but you should calm down before you post something. I almost thought you were CmdrTaco.
Have you read my journal today?
Kind of reminds me of those cheesy kung fu movies you see at the video store with a description like:
- Don't miss the exciting last half hour, in which it is revealed that the brotherhood of Purple Shaolins was actually founded by Tsao Houxi!
- Make sure to watch the dramatic martial arts conclusion as Red Daggers Li at the last second defeats Black Dragon Xu!
Or my personal chrisd favorite:I mean, okay, okay. It's hard to start a new company. But with a book like this, at least you know that you're not the only one going through hard times.
And this "dramatic conclusion" ends with a Joe Pesci line--okay okay okay--that I would've recognized as terrible writing when I was nine. Hey Slashdot, since you're posting book review stories by the uneducated, can my little brother write one?
Have fun: Join D.N.A. (National Dyslexics Association)
"...a bunch of rich, fat, overpaid, overhyped dot-con executives blathering on and on about some "business lessons" they supposedly learned while they were out wasting millions of dollars of venture capitalists' money..."
Whether they learned something or not, they are apparently making more money than you are. Your opinions over their results... Hmmmm...
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If she could have then why didn't she? Obviously because she'd rather write a book and make more money.
The VC firms usually made out pretty well on the dot-com's. When the dot-com went public at $410 per share, the VC cashed out. VC's, broker's, and investment banks made tons of money while the personal investor totally fleeced.
Of course, one might have suspected that something untoward was happening. If a company goes public at $14 a share and closes at $400, the company has been done a tremendous disservice by the VC and investment bank. The money is supposed to be going to capital for the company. The company shares should have been priced at $400. The company looses, and the investor looses. The VC, broker, and investment banker win! The VC wins by offloading a loser company at tremendous gains, the broker wins with commisions on a grossly overvalued stock, and the investment bank wins by taking a stock public and retaining lots of options at $14.
I had a difficult time understanding what this book "does" for the reader from this review. Is it simply a collection of stories of people who succeeded and those who didn't. Or does she provide some kind of analysis and state what she thinks were the important reasons for success?
I would be very interested if this book postulates some reasons (even though it must always be remembered that they are her opinions and not facts) but if it's just a collection of stories, then why should I buy this book? I can read all about the rediculous wastes that went on during the dot-com years in the newspaper. Or see that one documentary movie whose name I forget now (you know, it was that one where the filmakers planned on following the success story of a startup only to end up capturing the true story of a dream gone bad).
Hey, if anyone has some theories about what seperated the winners from the losers, please post a reply to this message. I'd be interested in hearing them. I was never involved in the dot-com bust (except via the stock market) so I really "missed out" on an important lesson here. And I'm not convienced that this book would help me out.
GMD
watch this
Now, we all know what Slashdot readers want to see ...
Grrrr
;-)
The drops of water don't know themselves to be a river; and yet the river flows.
Is it simply a collection of stories of people who succeeded and those who didn't. Or does she provide some kind of analysis and state what she thinks were the important reasons for success?
... if it's just a collection of stories, then why should I buy this book?
So you can get a few raw facts and draw your OWN conclusions about what works and what doesn't?
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Could we get some ^M's in there .. please??
"Champagne for my real friends - and real pain for my sham friends!" http://ericblade.postalboard.com/
i think the whole dot.com bust was basically a self-fullfilling profecy. Industry observers, and anyone else who didn't get in on the dot.com boom because they thought it would come crashing down were looking for something to call a 'dot.com crash' in order to justify their not taking the risk and getting involved themselves.
So the first time the industry showed any signs of slowing down, they (newspaper writers included) said 'oh look, there's the bust, I told you it would happen. I knew I was right not getting into it.'
But what really happend? Sure some guys had to get real jobs, but their effort (and investor's dollars) were not wasted. They are like ants who drown themselves so that other ants can walk across the dead bodies to the food (analogies rule!).
So what separated the drowners from the walkers? Same things as always, innovation, practical thinking, communication skills and HARD WORK.
Thank you Dave Raggett
This sounds like a mixture of two of my least favourite CBC programs. Which wouldn't surprise me, knowing CBC executives.
"If there is one thing I can't stand, it's watching a bunch of rich, fat, overpaid, overhyped dot-con..."
..
... Case in point:7 -3.jpg
Did you mean ESR? I mean, he qualifies in all those
"..executives.."
Executive is one thing the man is not
http://tuxedo.org/~esr/graphics/raymond00
I wish I had some mod points left, lol. Well said!
Maxim: People cannot follow directions.
Increases in truth directly with the length of time spent explaining them
...book review stories by the uneducated?
Mmmm, this smells like a person with a pipi complex. Dude, grow up! This is not a technical review, just a general one about a novel like investment-related book. He took the time to read the book and then give us for free his take on it. Short and to the point, what else do you want for this type of book. Hey, Evert has been making a bundle of money for years doing much less reviewing movies and I don't see anyone calling him uneducated. I mean how do you know this guy doesn't have a PhD and/or a ton of working experience. I personally couldn't care less about his background, but it seems that a few folks with a big complex do. Okay, so from now on everyone has to state their educational background (as if it really matters here?!) starting with me...okay, I have a BSEE and an MS in Comp Sci + 10+ years of technical experience. Jee, maybe I don't make the grade to be writing this??! I'll try to complete my PhD next time...
Why hasn't the /. crew done something about these stupid page widening posts?
And why don't they show the story when you change the threshold? I upped the threshold to +1 and now the story disappears and I'm left with only the comments...
Of course, I doubt the author of that article can make that kind of judgement call as to their character.
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The real reason for the dot-com bust was revealed in yesterday's article:
No, the "disturbing behavioral trend" was not bad management or wasteful practices... but software piracy!
He looked at me and said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send your fingerprints off to Washington."
Where the janitors earned $15.00 an hour to push a broom. I know intelligent people with college degrees who work longer hours at tough jobs for less money. Nurses, teachers, human resources, data entry... a big chunk of people employed in those sectors don't make that much money.
I worked for a union in rural Pennsylvania, and the low seniority guys were earning $9.50 an hour to not push a broom. The high seniority fellows that earned $13+/hour drove the equipment, while six or seven of the newer guys took turns using two shovels.
I'm not saying unions are all bad, and I'm definitely not saying this country would be better off without them. But believe it or not, some unions abuse employers just as badly as some employers used to abuse their workers.
I don't hate these rat bastards for having money. I hate them for thinking of the damn idea before me, so I could do it! They have a right to brag. The did something probably most people are completely unable to do, because of society. Mostly because of the nature of their gender, but on top of that the level of "virtual" balls they need to stand up and get knocked down a couple of times before getting it right. Go back to hacking on your keyboard, because obviously Vic, you won't be owning your own company any time soon because of the "no-balls" factor :)
the article lead in sentence had it right.
dont use VC if you prize you company, VC in
swahilli "means snake in the grass who deceives
and steals and slithers away to its next victim"
anyone using VC is committing business SUICIDE !!
i imagine that you haven't seen real executives very much, other than the beautiful people that the popular press likes to present. imagine warren buffet in shorts and a t-shirt. sexy huh? it's a damn shame that accomplishment is linked with slick speaking skills and a good body. one time i saw this extremely wealthy executive in bad shorts and a faded t-shirt on an old sear's ten-speed.
...did the kids with the rats and the Burger King cup get $5 million in VC money?? :) See, THAT would be a funny story. Granted, funny in sort of a "shoot me in the head now" type of way, but still funny.
www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
...in 1986. The title of his autobiographical book was, simply, "Lessons." "By" Dr. An Wang "and" Eugene Linden. Almost every chapter ended by saying "The lesson I learned from this was..."
Given the history of Wang Laboratories Inc. subsequent to 1986, a better title might have been "Lessens."
Working in a union environment means that it's harder to get rid of the poeple who don't work as hard as they should. It also removes alot of incentive to try and achieve more. Why work hard to get that raise if you're already guaranteed it in your union contract? There's a whole host of other issues that come up in typical union environments too. Someone has to pick up the slack when a union worker only does as much work as necissary for the union to keep him/her from getting fired. Sure, not all union workers do that, but it only takes a few.
Don't get me wrong, I think that unions are important. I also think they should be temporary. Workers should be allowed to organize to overcome an important problem, and then they should go away until the next 'unresolvable' issue. They shouldn't be allowed to stick around and engage in what is essentially racketeering. Companies should also be allowed to hire replacements for workers that are on strike, as long as the new workers are hired on the same terms that the strikers are protesting against.
And what is this mythical 40 hour work week you speak of? Don't you mean 80 hours?
In the early stages of planning an ISP biz about 7 years ago, my partner and I had organized a meeting at his place with our potential bank manager. He lived with 3 other people in a "soon to be condemned" building. We looked somewhat presentable, and the room was semi clean (roaches took a vacation) but I think we were a little concerned when one of his roommates arrived with an underage teenage girl under each arm, and noisily disappeared into his bedroom.
Needless to say we did'nt get that bank all fired up about our business plan.
Amazon.com has it much less expensive. Let's see... $17.47 from Amazon or $19.96 from B&N... Why is B&N always so much more expensive?
What happened to the Censorware Project?
Thanks for the review. This sounds like a book I definitely want to read. One small nitpick ... "achieving a liquidity event"??? Jeeez.
The real Seth Finkelstein has slashdot uid #90154
The name is also a subtle misspelling
My name is Seth Finkelstein, the troll is using the name is Seth Finkelstien
I did not post the above message in this thread. People may disagree with what I say, but I don't do totally off-topic posts such as the above. The above message was the act of an imposter.
The real Seth Finkelstein has slashdot uid #90154
The name is also a subtle misspelling
My name is Seth Finkelstein, the troll is using the name Seth Finkelstien
I did not post the above message in this thread.
Stupid CEOs who think up those 'grand' ideas are the ones to blame for the dotcom crash. Take the example from this book. The paperless train ticket system... Nifty idea with a lot of ridiculous barriers that make it impractical. Most trains tickets are purchased at the station with no security gates (yet) no baggage check in and the whole hoopla that goes with air travel. For that purpose the paper ticket is the natural obvious and efficient solution. But the enterpreneur in the book obviously doesn't see it that way. He's already obsessing about his vision without giving it some clear headed thought.
Your pizza just the way you ought to have it.
in other words screw who ever you can
to make a buck ? Huh, great morals.
In other words, the ends justify the means ?
Thats why so many people now have distrust of
stock brokers, bankers and accountants. They
finally found out that these snake oil salesman
have been stealing them blind while they sleep !
Sorry, but I fortunately have a conscious and
would never presume such as "your opinions over their results" -
I say, "their opinions over your results", Hmmmmmm
Plenty of successful CEO's have vision. Gates, Ellison, McNeely, Jobs, Eisner, Case, Dell.....etc. They all have grand visions and they're all successful. I think what is necessary is a capability to recognize that sometimes you are wrong.
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
Well, I had first impressions of the cafeteria at the local Venture, where you get an Icee, an old hot dog, and a pretzel.
What, you can't download mozilla and use it too?
No. Many union dues are excessively high and really give back very little. I once was in a union. The guilty shall remain nameless.
I had a grievance with the company and I couldn't get the union to give me 5 minutes. They were useless. Not only did they not help me, they weren't helping anyone. We were all underpaid, under-benefitted, workhorses in a respectable job. I'm working 40 hours at $10.50 and I didn't get any benefits, and to top it off my union dues were $46 monthly!
Oh yeah, and the union wasn't an option. Don't want the union? You must not want the job.
The existence of the union was merely a ploy to make new workers think they were being well taken care of. If someone sued, they could just say, "Hey, we have a union. Everyone's in it, and they haven't said anything.". It sucked because of the top union mediators were upper level management. How much freaking sense does that make?
You can't legislate goodness. Let each to his own destiny, by will of his freely made choices.
I'd like to see a good "where are they now" book covering the CEOs of disasterous startups.
I don't need a book for this... I know the secret recipe!
"Go to Menlo Park. Shake a tree. A venture capitalist will fall out.
Wave your hands and say these high-tech buz words.
"Online comerce. B2B. Wireless Internet!"
The VC will give you $4Million dollars.
Hire 20 people, publish lots of hype, stir for six months, and go public.
Your IPO stock will inflate rapidly, and you'll become Mozillionaires.
Your share is $30M dollars. Go to Menlo Park. Climb a tree.
Uma cabaca, um arame, um pedaco de pau!
Fly Fish? Participate in our forum
If you have a solid business idea, even rats won't keep investors away.
At DEC in the early days the hardware engineers worked during the day and ran all the rats into the programmers area, then, the programmers worked at night and ran the rats back over to the engineering area. They somehow managed to create a company that made $Billions a year of real money. Granted, they only lasted 40 years or so until they were bought by Compaq but some of the dot-bombs didn't last 40 days...
In otherwords you're reading a quite a bit into that comment. Did I say the ends justified the means? Did I advocate screwing people for a buck? I didn't even imply it.
.com businessmen are rich, greedy bastards with no soul or conscious. Yep, they're all Enron bastards.
In otherwords you're an angry little man who is taking things WAY out of context. What this artical, and you apparently, is implying is that all
Thanks, but I'll take their results over both of your stereotyping opinions anyday of the week. hell, you don't even know who these people are. Class racism. Fun stuff.
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Its amazing how little this quality exists in society. The success of a company depends on the number of managers with common sense outnumbering those without.
At this point, management can make decisions faster than logic.
To remind me why I rely on publications like the New York Review of Books for book criticism.
Timothy... please! Did you read it once or twice before you posted? Please, please tell me that you would have been able to tell how trite a review this was if you had.
Please.
Let's get some facts straight.
1. Janitors do not just push brooms.
2. 15.00 an hour is not enough for me to have to unclogged a public toilet.
3. Having to empty the garbage cans that end up getting filled with needles and other dangerous crap. Just to get it to the dumpster 15.00 isn't even close.
4. Having to paint the outside wall in the sun all day because you kid decided to show his spelling skills with a spray can. $15.00 doesn't begin to start to cover.
I have never been a janitor but I certainly appreciate what they have to put up with. And listening to people berate them and what they do shows how clueless people are.
Let me give you a clue here is a plunger. And if you think it is just like home unclogging a public toilet, why don't you volunteer.
Nurses and teachers may be the only ones on your list that deserve the high pay.
Remember this Dilbert, the one were Wally gets a bunch of money because he has a cool ponytail?
See Here
and
See Here
John
The drops of water don't know themselves to be a river; and yet the river flows.
Don't you know that the IPO initiate capital holder are not allow to cash out within 1 year of IPO? This obvious ruling prevent people do scorch and run with the money after IPO.