The Nudist on the Late Shift: And Other True Tales of Silicon Valley

by Po Bronson

Book Overview

Now in paperback comes the up-close-and-personal expos of the zany new generation driving the high-tech boom--a great chance to meet the brainiacs, the geeks, the venture capitalists, the driven, and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767906039
• ISBN13: 9780767906036
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Broadway Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

The Nudist on the Late Shift and Other True Tales of Silicon

What an excellent book. A fast read. It was fun to read and get an inside glimpse of the new business environment taking shape in the "valley of the e-Titians!" Po Bronson' style of writing invites the reader to stay and enjoy. His choice of words, stories and metaphors is very enlighten and imaginative. Anyone wanting to get a feel for how the world of venture capitalist, start-ups, the Internet and the truly unique characters that exist in the technology valley of California must read this book. If you have a start up in your mind, read this book first. It will help you get a sense of the required commitment and creativity to be successful in the web technology world of today.One of the greatest surprises was how the book was broken out, by the different types of business people in the "dot.com" world - i.e. the start-up, the IPO, the drop out, etc. It is a great book to use as a learning tool. It should be required reading in College business classes on setting up an Internet business.

He understands the essence of the high-tech startup

This is a droll and perceptive look at the current state of high-tech startups. I thought it was both a terrific read and an accurate portrayal of the late 20th century tulip-bulb investment phenomenon. Bronson kept close tabs on several startups, following the whole wacky process from start to beginning. Observing the attorneys from multiple competing backers hash out the final details of a prospectus, he observes "..getting eight attorneys to agree on language is sort of like getting eight children to agree on pizza toppings..." He has a real feel for the humor and insanity of VC-backed firms, but I think that Bronson is on to something deeper. He has captured a significant transition from the glory-bound visionaries to a short-sighted greed-driven model, musing that "..if it stops being fun, our creativity will become formulaic and hackneyed." Perhaps we won't recognize our loss until after nudists are no longer tolerated on the late shift.After living through too many startups, I recognized a lot of reality here. Bronson is right on with both the details and the spirit. There is a cultural change happening in the nature of startups that won't be completely apparent until it is complete. Then, maybe, we'll look back and recognize the importance of this book.If that's too profound, then think of it as just a fun book from an engrossing story teller.

Overall feel of the Valley is captured

Having read several reviews complaining about lack of accuracy in a few small areas, I felt compelled to write this review. Granted I have only recently moved to the Valley, but reading The Nudist on the Late Shift primed me for what was in store. The main focus book, like that of the Valley, was on the technology industry. Since that is my chosen field this book had particular relevance to me. The story detailing the lives of several new migrants to the Bay Area and that of the experienced software consultants were not only accurate reflections of the way things can be here, but also managed to be truly entertaining. I would heartily recommend this book for anyone in the technology industry or those who are thinking of moving to the Valley. Well done, Po.

A quick and engrossing read

I moved to the Valley a year ago, and may not share the same jaded views as others who have reviewed this book. It's fascinating, and reminds me why I moved here in the first place: the lifestyle is fast-paced, coworkers & colleagues are inspired, and one can make a real impact in the company. This is what Bronson picks up on, and why the book is special and insightful. For many of us, including those in the book, options are secondary. The drive to create (entreprenuership) is first.

How green is your valley

Culture is communicated through stories, and Po Bronson's latest book, `The nudist on the late shift', communicates the culture of Silicon Valley through the eyes of a master storyteller. Silicon Valley has a gold rush culture. People come there from all over the world, armed with talent and initiative, and not much else. They are hoping for that one break, which will write them into history and make them "so much money that they never have to make money again". They are driven by stories of normal people who made it big, stories which invite the punchline, "well if he did it, then I can do it too."Sabeer Bhatia's story is a prime example. Sabeer arrived in America as penniless immigrant on a scholarship, yet one decade later he was playing brinkmanship with Microsoft, holding out for that extra $50 million on a $350 million offer. Sabeer's story is told by Bronson as a meta-story, in order to cast light on `the lucky or great' question. Is Sabeer a genius, or did he "just happen to be in the right place and at the right time." We learn how Sabeer was turned down by over twenty venture capitalists before he obtained funding for his hotmail concept. But we also see how cannily he protected his idea, by approaching potential funders with an alternative product, one which he knew would be rejected, to see whether they rejected it for the right or wrong reasons. More than once on his way to becoming president of the company with quickest growing subscriber base in history, Basheer bet the company fortune on a single throw.Yet this book is not about the Valley's most important people; indeed to Bronson that would be forcing an East Coast paradigm onto a West Coast phenomenon. Instead, the book sets out to capture the spirit of Silicon Valley. As Bronson writes: "it is about opportunity to become a mover and shaker, not about being one." In this vein, we follow a group of newcomers in their enthusiastic quest, to learn in the end, that only one of them is to make it. We do the rounds with the salesmen `dropping his pants' in an attempt to maintain the company's stock analysts `growth category stock' rating. We sit with a CEO through his IPO, which becomes the last, heart-wrenching, roller-coaster stretch of the "eighteen years that it took him to become an overnight success". We ponder the `ABCDEF' problem, which are the range of options facing a Java programmer, who want to be associated with success, but for whom "the variables that he has to go on are not the variables (XYZ) which determine the outcome". Whereas most journalists screen articles using a `bullshit detector', Po Bronson claims to use a `Goose Bump Meter' to let him know which stories to follow. The stories merge to become a soap opera; they stand alone, and yet they interweave to become a greater whole. The resulting book is a riveting series of interrelated anecdotes and analyses, which paint a different and yet compelling reality. Book Review: