Losing the Signal: The Untold Story behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry

In 2009 BlackBerry controlled half of the smartphone market. Today that number is 1 percent. What went so wrong?

Losing the Signal is a riveting story of a company that toppled global giants before succumbing to the ruthlessly competitive forces of Silicon Valley. This is not a conventional tale of modern business failure by fraud and greed. The rise and fall of BlackBerry reveals the dangerous speed at which innovators race along the information superhighway.

With unprecedented access to key players, senior executives, directors, and competitors, Losing the Signal unveils the remarkable rise of a company that started above a bagel shop in Ontario. At the heart of the story is an unlikely partnership between a visionary engineer, Mike Lazaridis, and an abrasive Harvard Business School grad, Jim Balsillie. Together they engineered a pioneering pocket email device that became the tool of choice for presidents and CEOs. The partnership enjoyed only a brief moment on top of the world, however. At the very moment BlackBerry was ranked the world's fastest-growing company, internal feuds and chaotic growth crippled the company as it faced its gravest test: Apple and Google's entry into mobile phones.

Expertly told by acclaimed journalists Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff, this is an entertaining, whirlwind narrative that goes behind the scenes to reveal one of the most compelling business stories of the new century.

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Losing the Signal: The Untold Story behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry

In 2009 BlackBerry controlled half of the smartphone market. Today that number is 1 percent. What went so wrong?

Losing the Signal is a riveting story of a company that toppled global giants before succumbing to the ruthlessly competitive forces of Silicon Valley. This is not a conventional tale of modern business failure by fraud and greed. The rise and fall of BlackBerry reveals the dangerous speed at which innovators race along the information superhighway.

With unprecedented access to key players, senior executives, directors, and competitors, Losing the Signal unveils the remarkable rise of a company that started above a bagel shop in Ontario. At the heart of the story is an unlikely partnership between a visionary engineer, Mike Lazaridis, and an abrasive Harvard Business School grad, Jim Balsillie. Together they engineered a pioneering pocket email device that became the tool of choice for presidents and CEOs. The partnership enjoyed only a brief moment on top of the world, however. At the very moment BlackBerry was ranked the world's fastest-growing company, internal feuds and chaotic growth crippled the company as it faced its gravest test: Apple and Google's entry into mobile phones.

Expertly told by acclaimed journalists Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff, this is an entertaining, whirlwind narrative that goes behind the scenes to reveal one of the most compelling business stories of the new century.

19.95 In Stock
Losing the Signal: The Untold Story behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry

Losing the Signal: The Untold Story behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry

by Jacquie McNish, Sean Silcoff

Narrated by William Hughes

Unabridged — 11 hours, 29 minutes

Losing the Signal: The Untold Story behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry

Losing the Signal: The Untold Story behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry

by Jacquie McNish, Sean Silcoff

Narrated by William Hughes

Unabridged — 11 hours, 29 minutes

Audiobook (Digital)

$19.95
(Not eligible for purchase using B&N Audiobooks Subscription credits)

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Overview

In 2009 BlackBerry controlled half of the smartphone market. Today that number is 1 percent. What went so wrong?

Losing the Signal is a riveting story of a company that toppled global giants before succumbing to the ruthlessly competitive forces of Silicon Valley. This is not a conventional tale of modern business failure by fraud and greed. The rise and fall of BlackBerry reveals the dangerous speed at which innovators race along the information superhighway.

With unprecedented access to key players, senior executives, directors, and competitors, Losing the Signal unveils the remarkable rise of a company that started above a bagel shop in Ontario. At the heart of the story is an unlikely partnership between a visionary engineer, Mike Lazaridis, and an abrasive Harvard Business School grad, Jim Balsillie. Together they engineered a pioneering pocket email device that became the tool of choice for presidents and CEOs. The partnership enjoyed only a brief moment on top of the world, however. At the very moment BlackBerry was ranked the world's fastest-growing company, internal feuds and chaotic growth crippled the company as it faced its gravest test: Apple and Google's entry into mobile phones.

Expertly told by acclaimed journalists Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff, this is an entertaining, whirlwind narrative that goes behind the scenes to reveal one of the most compelling business stories of the new century.


Editorial Reviews

Daily Beast

Unflinching.”

Financial Times

There have been many books about the smartphone maker, but none of the authors has had the same level of access to Mr. Lazaridis and Mr. Balsillie as the duo behind Losing the Signal.”

Wall Street Journal

Losing the Signal is a good old-fashioned insider’s business narrative, the kind we don’t see enough of these days, and it should scare the pants off most CEOs.”

New York Times bestselling author William Cohan

In Losing the Signal, Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff tell the harrowing and riveting story of how we lost the connection to the BlackBerry, a communication device so innovative and addictive that it was known, among aficionados, as a Crackberry. It’s a tale of rivalries, jealousies, and missed opportunities. You won’t be able to put it down.”

New York Times

Losing the Signal…fills in some details of the early history of BlackBerry. And its later chapters offer gripping details about the emotional and business turmoil surrounding its near collapse…This was a company that had $20 billion in revenue and changed the way we communicated. It’s not likely we’ll see that lightning strike again.”

author of Pogue’s Basics and founder of Yaho David Pogue

In the tech industry, they say that you learn more from a failure than from a hit. Well, if that’s true, Losing the Signal will give you a postdoctoral education. Reading the inside story of the BlackBerry’s helpless flameout is like watching any other train wreck: you’re horrified, but you can’t look away.”

Product Details

BN ID: 2940169523423
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date: 05/26/2015
Edition description: Unabridged
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