The Silicon Boys: And Their Valley of Dreams Paperback – April 5, 2000

The Silicon Boys is a fantastic look into the history of the many successful (and some not so successful) companies that have come out of the Silicon Valley, but also a look into the mentality of the men who run the tech industry. The book is set up like a documentary, and stays interesting throughout by giving you lots of interesting facts and side stories about the men who make up the elite of Silicon Valley.The book is split into ten chapters, and each talks about a different segment of the industry, starting with a history of why California, especially the Silicon Valley region, is great for the start of new ideas and money making. Kaplan goes into what is basically the birth of the consumer computer industry, with the invention of the transistor at Bell Labs, and how that progressed to the integrated circuit and the microprocessor.A large part of the book dealt with the creation of these multi-billion dollar businesses, and the venture capitalists that believed in their ideas and handed over the money. Kaplan especially talks of the venture capitalist firm, Kleiner Perkins and their enthusiastic leader, John Doerr. After reading this book, you really get an idea of how much the venture capitalists are actually in charge of Silicon Valley.In the last part of the book, Kaplan talks about the rise and fall of Netscape, and their battle against "the evil Microsoft." It really shows how unpredictable the web market can be, and how ruthless some companies get in search for market share. He ends the book by talking about Yahoo! and how they have created one of the most successful businesses online.I would strongly recommend reading this book, especially if you are interested in technology and the history of the many successful businesses to come out of Silicon Valley. Keep in mind though, that this book was written in 1999, so some of the information, especially at the end, seems dated.

I found this a very entertaining book the guy is very pithy it gives you a pretty good picture of what Silicon Valley looked like back in 19 9899 and 2000 and it’s kind of a tongue-in-cheek Teller it’s a good read I think you guys might enjoy it if you like this one you want to go read the book that says how the boys in Silicon Valley can’t get a date

This was a worthwhile, fun read. With many short stories about different subjects, it provides great stopping points if you have to read it in many settings. Many of the stories are rehashed and if you read Forbes and Fortune you will be familiar with much of the material. Irrespective, it is still humorous, educational and entertaining, particularly if you are not well versed on the subjects. Having read Ellison's book, a little of Larry goes a long way. The Yahoo story was particularly interesting as I had not read much on them. The "old" history of the valley was also interesting to frame where we are now and this book gave a good review of the incestous growth from those companies. I think you will enjoy this book.

The Silicon Valley has been copied often throughout the world. With no success so far. Because it isnot simply a high tech park, a market of "Stuff". It's an amazing collection of highly motivated individuals.A permanent challenge to high tech and bio tech performance. A unique cooperation between industry andacademia. A cross-fertilization of cultures, ideas, nationalities, research and finance. A collection of some of themost creative individuals of this amazing corporate and financial Silicon world.This book is presenting us with some of the best minds of the Silicon Valley, the heroes - known or not so known -who have been associated with the making of a unique technological empire.Very educational and enjoyable !

The review is about the quality of the prints, not about the content. The prints are blurred. This is newly printed as promised. I wished I had ordered the "new" but originally printed in 1999 (obviously I should have ordered used books instead).

A great author-loved his bracketed comments on many of he stories.

Good story but too much jealosy, Mr Kaplan seems to have a bit of a complex for the rich guys that provide most of his stories!!

I love all things Silicon Valley, and this book does a great job of bringing it all to life. If you're not real familiar with the history, you'll learn from this but it's so much more fun when you know the people!

The font size is too small causing inconvenience to the reader and the printing quality is not up to the mark..

Tenía mucho interés por leer cómo fue la historia de Silicon Valley y pese a que ya había leído algunas obras, le tenía muchas ganas a este libro, que esperaba profundizase más. Por desgracia, apenas da más datos, y el tipo de prosa acaba resultando demasiado parco, centrado más en datos poco relevantes. No es capaz de contar la historia de forma amena y didáctica y se acaba liando con personajes y momentos muy poco atractivos (o que al menos no están bien explicados). Una decepción.

ぼくは本書を大学生の頃にワクワクしながら読みました．当時，ITについては「IT革命」だの「ITバブル」だの賛否両論（極論？）ありましたが，現在では，優れたものは生き残り，そうでないものは淘汰され，一時期の盛り上がりは落ち着きましたが，いまなおITは進化し続けています．本書では，当時のITの盛り上がりの中心地であるシリコンバレーを舞台に，アントレプレナーやベンチャーキャピタリストたちの物語（実話）が描かれています．シリコンバレーについて書かれた書籍は他にも多くが存在しますが，本書が類書と以下の点で異なると思います．・著者のずば抜けた情報力と分析力（例えば，ゲイツとキルドーリのやりとりは『新・電子立国』よりも詳しく書かれています）・特に，オラクルのラリー・エリソンを詳細に取り上げている（日本オラクルについては吉田育代：『日本オラクル伝』が詳しいです）・ベンチャーキャピタルを詳細に取り上げている（類書では起業家は取り上げますが，ベンチャーキャピタルを取り上げることは稀です）・マイクロソフトをはじめIT史に詳しい脇英世氏の解説つき・熱い魂ITには大きく分けて自発開発（作りたい製品・サービスを作っちゃう）と受託開発（顧客が必要とする製品・サービスを作る）の2つがあると思います．シリコンバレーのITは自発開発が多く，日本のIT（一括りにしてゴメンナサイ）は受託開発が多いと思います．日本のIT（一括りにしてゴメンナサイ）には思想がなくて，できそうなことばっかりやって，電気・水道・ガスのようなインフラに成り下がってしまっていると思います（とくに大企業）．しかし，本来ITは楽しいもので，本書に登場するシリコンバレーのアントレプレナーたちは，自信に溢れ，できるかどうかわからないけど好きなことに挑戦し，「好きなことを突き詰めればハッピーになれる」ということを体現してます．本書を読めば，アントレプレナーたちの無謀とも思える挑戦から熱い魂（シリコンバレー・スピリッツ）がヒシヒシと伝わってきて，ITの楽しさ，そして，仕事の楽しさに改めて気付かせてくれることでしょう．