Did I forget to say you may be quizzed on this book on the interview... ;-)
by a-priori on 2/14/08, 2:49 PM
Picked it up about a year ago, and I've read it twice now. I lent it to my partner when we went into business together... she hasn't returned it yet. I don't know if that's a good sign or not. :)
by watmough on 2/14/08, 3:48 AM
Wow, my copy of this arrived 30 minutes ago from Amazon. Talk about topical.
In the same pile of boxes was "Software Engineering for Internet Applications" which may well be a bit dated now, but I'm sure that the basic idea of using the fewest and fastest components available still holds good.
by simianstyle on 2/14/08, 5:34 AM
Cannot wait for Livingston's new one. I heard it follows the same theme, but focuses more on engineering.
by yters on 2/14/08, 12:46 PM
Excellent job.
Would it be fair to say that the advice centers around a few principles?
1. Maximize possible courses of action.
2. Allow the environment (users, VCs, etc) to select the best course at the time.
3. Select the environment most representative of your goals.
by andr on 2/14/08, 4:51 AM
yeah, it's quite a fun book. i read it before last investor day.
the only part i didn't like was the Lycos story. basically, a guy gets a call from a VC: "hey, we've got the idea, the technology, and the funding. can you please run the company?"
by aneesh on 2/15/08, 7:46 AM
Yeah, definitely a must-read. I'd just open up the book randomly and start reading wherever I was. The particularly memorable ones were Max Levchin, Sabeer Bhatia, Josh Schachter, and TripAdvisor .
by dkokelley on 2/14/08, 6:24 AM
Good analysis. I'm half way through reading F.A.W. but I have a bad habit of switching books. Right now I'm on How to Win Friends and Influence People and then I'll go to 7 Habits of Highly Successful People and then I'll read a few more cases. It keeps my mind fresh for each book.
by gibsonf1 on 2/14/08, 6:28 AM
I would be very interested in a digital copy (pdf) to read on my Iphone (usually in places where a book is very incvonvenient) I'd be willing to pay (to the author of course) :)
I was just recently reading about Macros in PG's _On Lisp_ on my Iphone - excellent work PG.
by trekker7 on 2/14/08, 5:06 AM
Wow, I really admire your initiative in bookmarking sentences, taking notes, etc. If I can ask, what's your motivation for doing a startup? What drives you?
by willarson on 2/14/08, 4:21 AM
Good article, but its unfortunately also a good example of how misspelling and using the wrong words can really hurt public writing.
by misterbwong on 2/14/08, 9:41 PM
Agree with the rest. FAW is a must-read. My copy has so many notes you can barely read the text anymore. :P
by redorb on 2/14/08, 4:45 AM
great book picked it up and about a month ago, when i get down i read it. .rb
by xirium on 2/14/08, 3:25 AM
hussle + luck = opportunity