Starting Something: An Entrepreneur's Tale of Control, Confrontation & Corporate Culture

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Misses the point?

Reading Between The Lines

warren

Starting Something: Must Read

Entrepreneurs - read this first

Starting Something: An Entrepreneur's Tale of Control, Confrontation & Corporate Culture
Wayne McVicker
Manufacturer: Ravel Media, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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Entrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1932881026

Book Description

A piercingly honest and highly personal story of how a software firm that accidentally became a dotcom darling and eventually a $3 billion public company, survived its struggles in the face of daunting obstacles. Delivers a wealth of insight, information, and advice for entrepreneurs. An unflinching look at both the dark and the bright sides of corporate culture.

Customer Reviews:

Misses the point?.......2006-12-27

I fully admire the guts it took for Wayne to start a business, I fully admire the hard work he and his employees put in, and I fully admire his candor, since there was a lot in his book that deserved to be told, especially on the company-investor relationship side. But I couldn't help noticing that whenever he spoke glowingly of the company's progress and achievements, he measured them in terms of employee growth and fundraising stats, rather than REVENUE or PROFIT.

Here's why:

1999 - $1 million revenue, operating loss of $51 million
2000 - $10 million revenue, operating loss of $219 million
2001 - $3 million revenue, operating loss of $273 million
2002 - $4 million revenue, operating loss of $81 million
2003 - $11 million revenue, operating loss of $65 million
2004 - $13 million revenue, operating loss of $62 million
2005 - revenues finally started growing for real, because they bought some with their own stock, and then were acquired by another company end of 2005/beginning of 2006

Total for the six full years:

Revenue = $42 million
Losses = $751 million

That basically means the company spent $793 million in order to get $42 million of revenue. Think about those numbers for a second. If you're providing a service, and people are paying you 5 cents for every dollar you spend, well, maybe that's not such a great business to be in.

This book's an engaging and well-written chronicle of one of the shining examples of bubble era craziness. I'm not at all downplaying the truth or value in the general lessons, in the growing pains & emotional reversals of fortune Wayne goes through, and I'm not trying to pin the blame on him for all the missteps. I just hope that aspiring entrepreneurs who read this book balance it out with one on a business that worked, because there are a lot of those that make for interesting reading too, and luck isn't the only thing that distinguishes their trajectory from this one.

Reading Between The Lines.......2006-10-18

Starting Something captures the rocket ride to IPO in a truly remarkable way that makes the reader feel he's riding co-pilot. I found the discussion about their venture investor, Venrock Associates, to be of particular interest because it appears that "Bret," the Venrock Partner, was given additional equity in Neoforma after Venrock's investment (pp. 308-310). The problem with this kind of thing is that Bret works for the limited and general partners of the firm, not himself, and he took equity right out of their pockets.

Is there any way to justify Bret's actions here? Please, tell me that I'm missing something here.

warren.......2006-08-24

This books tells it like it is. I was so impressed with the frankness and engaging writing style that I adopted this book for courses at Penn State. I even visited the author and video'ed the key characters to get even more insight. Every budding entrepreneur should read this. -It covers nearly every management issue that a start-up confronts - finding money, mentors, family stresses, bad hires, dealing with VC's and angels, going public, change management, ethics, choosing partners, negotiating with corporations - you name it its here. I have recommended this book to all of my business and academic contacts - without exception they loved it. Tony Warren

Starting Something: Must Read.......2006-05-02

I am proud to say this is one of my favorite books in a long long time. I read it in one day and found every page and every experience not only realistic but enlightening. I will search for more books like this.

Entrepreneurs - read this first.......2006-04-25

This is the first book an entrepreneur should read.

I have read "Startup", "Hackers and Painters" and the "Art of the Start", and all a great books, but this book sets the scene for what it will really be like. I know because i am doing it and on so many points Wayne hits the mark. Highs and Lows.

Beyond the lesson (if to be put so formally), there is also a fascinating story and you really connect with Wayne and hope for a positive outcome. In fact during the reading i started to fell less like an individual entrepreneur struggling againt the world (who of course are always against you :) ... and more like beloning to a community of readers who are probably having the exact same struggles. Thankfully this book offers hope for anyone who feels they're battling against the elements day in day out.

It doesn't offer a solution to being successful, but it does show how some luck, hard work and quick thinking really can work for anyone.

STARTING SOMETHING: AN ENTREPRENEUR'S TALE OF CONTROL, CONFRONTATION & CORPORATE CULTURE

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STARTING SOMETHING: AN ENTREPRENEUR'S TALE OF CONTROL, CONFRONTATION & CORPORATE CULTURE

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Book Description

The Molecular Biology of Chloroplasts and Mitochondria in Chlamydomonas provides a comprehensive coverage of chloroplast and mitochondrial biogenesis and function. The book presents the current status of research on the molecular genetics of chloroplast gene expression. It describes the intricate cooperative interplay between the chloroplast and nuclear compartments which underlies the assembly of the photosynthetic apparatus. It also shows the power of chloroplast reverse genetics which has been used with considerable success to investigate structure-function relationships in several photosynthetic complexes. The book highlights the features of Chlamydomonas and the technological advances which make the alga uniquely suited to a multidisciplinary approach to study photosynthesis and its regulation under various environmental and stress conditions. The book is intended for a wide audience, but is specifically designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate students and researchers in the fields of biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology, biophysics, plant biology, phycology and biotechnology.

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the new testament of green yeast.......2001-01-31

This book covers not only the state of the art in using Chlamydomonas to study chloroplasts and mitochondria, it has useful chapters on general chlamydomonas techniques such as transformation. Definately a useful book for any lab using Chlamydomonas. It is probably too expensive for most individuals, which is why I only give it four stars.

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Biochemistry | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

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What typical Southern girl who grew up in the decades of the 40's and 50's hadn't wanted to be Scarlett O'Hara — especially if she happened to be the namesake of that character? Born on the very day and at the precise time Gone With the Wind premiered in Atlanta, Scarlett Harwood's destiny had simply collided with the stars, or so went the thinking of her dreamy-eyed, melodramatic young mother whose address was Cloud Nine.

It was on her fifteenth birthday that Scarlett Harwood finally saw the movie from which her name had come. From the moment Vivien Leigh's character materialized on the screen until the credits rolled, the girl was mesmerized, dumbstruck by the twinship she saw between herself and that young belle. It felt to her like someone had crawled inside her head, excised her brain, and planted it in the head of Scarlett O'Hara. She left the theatre that day still dabbing her tears, convinced that she was the reincarnation of the heroine — with one exception. She was smarter. She would never repeat O'Hara's mistakes. Never.

Neither would she repeat those of her mother, Tessa. She would get it right. Unlike both Scarlett O'Hara and Tessa, once she found her perfect man, she would never let him go.

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Download Description

What typical Southern girl who grew up in the decades of the 40's and 50's hadn't wanted to be Scarlett O'Hara - especially if she happened to be the namesake of that character? Born on the very day and at the precise time Gone With the Wind premiered in Atlanta, Scarlett Harwood's destiny had simply collided with the stars, or so went the thinking of her dreamy-eyed, melodramatic young mother whose address was Cloud Nine.

It was on her fifteenth birthday that Scarlett Harwood finally saw the movie from which her name had come. From the moment Vivien Leigh's character materialized on the screen until the credits rolled, the girl was mesmerized, dumbstruck by the twinship she saw between herself and that young belle. It felt to her like someone had crawled inside her head, excised her brain, and planted it in the head of Scarlett O'Hara. She left the theatre that day still dabbing her tears, convinced that she was the reincarnation of the heroine - with one exception. She was smarter. She would never repeat O'Hara's mistakes. Never.

Neither would she repeat those of her mother, Tessa. She would get it right. Unlike both Scarlett O'Hara and Tessa, once she found her perfect man, she would never let him go.

That was the plan.

Then came Jacob Stevenson.

Customer Reviews:

Very enjoyable.......2007-05-11

This was a fun book. I enjoyed getting to know these characters and the only bad part about the book for me was that it was over too soon!

Fabulous Story.......2006-02-06

This is one of the best books I have ever read. I highly recommend it.

Coming of age tale and a lott much.......2006-01-17

The first part of this wonderful book is a tale of coming of age
in the small-town-South. The story line and characterizations are good and the author's observations and metaphoric descriptions are keen and witty but not overdone. Tom Wolff massaged by Sue Grafton. The rest of the book is memoir-like, with the early characters continuing to devlop as the later charaters come aboard, adding breadth to the story without confusing it. We are drawn into their lives with extremely intelligent but very readable prose. As with GWTW, the reader is left wanting more.

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