First, thanks to Jonathan Karp, president and publisher of Simon & Schuster, and Ben Loehnen, my editor there, for asking if I’d be interested in writing a few books for a proposed series about “becoming.” It seemed the latest great idea from the fertile mind of the incomparable Jon Karp and another chance to work with the talented Ben, who had so ably served as my counsel and editor on Katrina: After the Flood, my latest book and, not incidentally, I think, my best.
Not thirty minutes after receiving an email invitation from Ben, I had written back, “First impression: I love this idea. And if it works out, I’m claiming venture capital.” Venture capital is an all-time favorite topic of mine. I relished a chance to spend time with and write about these high-stakes gamblers and risk takers.
As always, I’m grateful for the World’s Greatest Agent, Elizabeth Kaplan, who has always been in my corner. I appreciate the great care that Phil Bashe took while copyediting my manuscript, and thanks, too, to Amar Deol at Simon & Schuster, who was always there to aid and assist in the name of a manuscript. And thanks also to Rachel Caspert, a master at Excel and a favorite numbers cruncher.
A big shout-out to Elisa Schreiber at Greylock, who was a dream to work with, and also David Sze, the firm’s managing partner and industry mensch. They opened the door for me at Greylock, pointed the way to Josh Elman, and then let me do my job. Big thanks as well to Tod Francis, who bailed me out with an introduction to the impressive Nikhil Basu Trivedi, who was a delight to spend time with.
It had been some years since I had covered Silicon Valley. I was pleased that, in my absence, sites such as VentureBeat had popped up to keep closer tabs on venture. While working on this book, I grew to appreciate the job Forbes does each year with its Midas List, which offers a fun glimpse into the venture world; to wit, a terrific piece by George Anders with Alex Konrad, “Inside Sequoia Capital: Silicon Valley’s Innovation Factory,” that the magazine ran to accompany its 2014 list. While researching this book I also developed a deep dependency on Crunchbase, the database of venture deals the website TechCrunch maintains. TechCrunch was a mere infant when I left the tech beat in 2005 (the journalist’s peripatetic life: reassigned to the Gulf Coast to write about New Orleans’s recovery post-Katrina) but has grown into an impressive adult, cheeky and informed and smart. Also of note: Recode, which has also grown into a full-blown news outfit in my absence, and Connie Loizos, Silicon Valley editor of TechCrunch and author of StrictlyVC, a daily email that kept me entertained and up to date. I also became a fan of The Information, which for my money (if I could afford an annual subscription; thanks again, Miguel!), is the best source for what’s really happening in Silicon Valley and tech.
Last but hardly least, my family. With gratitude and love to Daisy Walker, who is always my first best editor (and also my spouse), and our two boys, Oliver and Silas, who keep a smile on my face (if not also occasionally causing a growly sound to emit from my mouth). With love.