The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest:: A Novel (ISBN 038073155X)

Amazon.com Review:
Bronson's last novel, Bombardiers, was wonderful, so it comes as no surprise that his latest novel is just marvelous. What does it take for entrepreneurs to risk everything, develop a product, start a company, and take it public? When social idealism, corporate politics, petty jealousies, money fever--all part of the business landscape in Silicon Valley--meet, the results make for a fun, fast-paced read. And if you're familiar with the culture of Silicon Valley, you'll find yourself asking if this is a novel or a chronicle of the times. Just make sure you clear your calendar before picking up this book--you won't be doing anything else until you finish.

Fun, Fun, Fun . . . then Fizzle:
Author and Silicon Valley insider, Po Bronson, writes a very funny novel about four quirky guys with the right stuff who want to create something that matters in the realm of computers. From cutting edge software and hardware development companies to Palo Alto think tanks, the plot follows the creation of a less than $300 computer from a list of low priority projects at the think tank level to the actual modeling of a prototype that gets one rival top dog engineer's undies in a knot. The trials and tribulations that face the group compare to the highs and lows of an EKG with enough back-stabbing, personality manipulation and corporate espionage to keep the reading at a wonderous pace up until the last 20 or so pages. The crafting of the dramatic persona, especially the four progtammer/hardware specialists hinges closely to the usual stereotypical portrayals of techno geeks seen in movies and television shows. However this does not detract from the fun level of the story; indeed one gets the sense that these portrayal closely model reality. What does detract is the rather abrupt ending which winds down what could have been an all out page-turning business adventure with a stop-on-a-dime conclusion that certainly did not satisfy me. Perhaps having seen the rather burlesque film version of this novel, I naively was expecting more bells and whistles and a more thorough troncing of rival engineer and threat Benoit. It never came, but perhaps that is due to the fact that I know nothing about the world of Silicon Valley where Bronson's could-be spoofs on the computer industry's behind the scenes star would lose their bite. Happily, the novel does not force a romance between Caspar and his housemate as in the movie version; here the attraction is noted and the reader can use his imagination to determine the outcome. Thank you, Po. All in all, I enjoyed the novel; I just wish it had a longer ending.

Insultingly stupid and extremely cheesy:
Bad characters, inane and obvious plot and zero writing style make this one of the worst books I've ever had the misfortune to read. If you have any interest in the world of business or silicon valley and the computer industry you should find this book laughable. And to make matters worse Po Bronson takes the kindergarten level theme and story so seriously it makes you doubt his credentials. I actually thought this might be a fun read as I was going through a similar situation as the lead character but just found this to be insulting me on every single page. I hope Amazon don't take it as a spoiler if I tell you the ending is unbelieveably stupid. In a word: Avoid.

This book pulled me into the entrepreneur business!:
I read this book when I was straight out of the university. And man what an influence it had over me! Over the past two years, I am going through almost the same as I am struggling to start on my own. The deeper I get into the business world, the more I can relate to it. This book is, by all means, a must read for young engineers.

Liar's Poker of Silicon Valley:
Po Bronson is Silicon Valley's Michael Lewis. Po Bronson does with this novel what Scott Adams did with comic strips. The characters in the book reminded me of the movie Office Space. Although, the book has a much superior plot. This book caricatures the personality of the Silicon Valley and is written to be made into a movie. It made me burst into laughters and some steep turns in the story made me gape in wonder. It was a nice and fun read; with a peppy and ruthless sense of humor. It is a casual read for the most part. When the plot thickens, you've got to pay attention to some details to convince yourself that you did not get tricked. Fellow geeks and nerds would enjoy it the most, if not all engineers!

GREAT SILICON VALLEY NOVEL -- FICTION FUN:
Po Bronson is a major non-fiction writer of our tgime-- he was a feature writer for WIRED and has written for NY Times Magazine, Forbes ASAP and more-- He knows the culture. You may be familiar with his more recent books -- especially on career change. This is a fun book written back in 2000 that holds up well. Especially because it's about a breakthgough technology lab caught up in a power struggle and a filed IPO etc. A little bit Manic, very funny and high tech insider views. Opens with the exit interview transcript for Andy Caspar, sales and marketing and his voluntary departure...NO it's not about BILL GATES in his author's notes Po explains that there is some relevance to the NOT GATES phrase because when electrical power comes into a NOT gate, the charge is canceled. As a writer for WIRED -- he kept hearing stories that represented in effect NOT gates-- entrepreneurs who were impeded, cheated or canceled by the gatekeepers of power-- in other words how they tried to fight red tape and get the big guys on their side and it was a no go. He mentions that his subtext is to bypass Bill Gates operating systems -- to create a new paradigm of technology that ignores operating systems...and it reminds us that as he says the human creative spirit is irrepressible, maybe you can spindle, fold and stamp it out for awhile but it the flame comes back-- sometimes as a simmer, sometimes as a boiling point and sometimes as self-immolation but it's hard to STAMP IT OUT -- the gate opens and closes -- and sometimes you have to wirecut a hole in it or jump over it or create a new design and get rid of the barbed wire old-fashioned look. Much of the time you're working with a team and that's this story 4 oddballs (but aren't we all in some way) who strive to beat the system at any cost-- but it does cost them a LOT.