Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure

by Jerry Kaplan

Overview

Kaplan, a well-known figure in the computer industry, founded GO Corporation in 1987, and for several years it was one of the hottest new ventures in the Valley. Startup tells the story of Kaplan's wild ride: how he assembled a brilliant but fractious team of engineers, software designers, and investors; pioneered the emerging market for hand-held computers operated with a pen instead of a keyboard; and careened from crisis to crisis without ever losing his passion for a revolutionary idea. Along the way, Kaplan vividly recreates his encounters with eccentric employees, risk-addicted venture capitalists, and industry giants such as Bill Gates, John Sculley, and Mitchell Kapor. And no one - including Kaplan himself - is spared his sharp wit and observant eye.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780140257311
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/01/1996
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.11(w) x 7.72(h) x 0.71(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

An artificial intelligence expert and innovator, Jerry Kaplan founded several Silicon Valley start-ups. He is the author of Artificial Intelligence: What Everyone Needs to Know, Humans Need Not Apply: A Guide to Wealth and Work in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, and Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure. Kaplan currently teaches at Stanford University.

Editorial Reviews

Kaplan founded GO Corp. in 1987 to develop a pen-based portable computer. He lost control of the company to an investor group that included AT&T in late 1993 after spending nearly $75 million in a failed effort to create a marketable product, and GO's successor company was closed down by AT&T in July 1994. What separates Kaplan's tale from other start-up stories is the insight he provides about dealing with two of America's largest computer companies-IBM and Microsoft. Kaplan negotiated with layers of IBM bureaucracy to get the company to invest tens of millions of dollars in GO, and yet with the downsizing that rocked IBM, Kaplan doubted whether anyone remaining at IBM knew or cared about its GO involvement. GO's relationship with Microsoft evolved from a potential partnership to a fierce competition. As the two companies became more competitive, the pressure Microsoft exerted on the industry to support its own pen-based efforts over those of GO makes one think that federal judge Stanley Sporkin is right in trying to reopen the antitrust investigation of the software powerhouse. Readers interested in entrepreneurial adventurism will find Kaplan's tale entertaining, but the book will appeal most to those familiar with the computer industry. (May)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Kaplan, a well-known figure in the computer industry, dreamed of creating a new kind of computer. Startup, based on a diary he kept, tells how in 1987 he gathered a team of engineers, software designers, and investors; developed a hand-held computer; and ended six years later selling his GO Corporation to AT&T. This entertaining story is the first insider's account of the cutthroat competitive soap opera known as the computer business. A glossary explains acronyms and technical terms that are used throughout the book. Kaplan is starting a new company devoted to reinventing online shopping. Business, academic, and public libraries should consider.-Susan Awe, Jefferson Cty. P.L. System, Arvada, Col.

Library Journal