Category: books

• The Circle

  Google’s dark side, a novel Dave Eggers‘ The Circle is one of those stories that just doesn’t fit a genre. It revolves around technology but isn’t science fiction. It’s terrifying but it’s not a thriller. It delves into the human psyche but isn’t literary fiction. It’s all of those things and more. There have been…

• I’m getting published!

  It’s high time for an update on my upcoming novel, Uncommon Stock. Many of you know I’ve been working on it since last Fall and I’ve been so involved in the trenches of grinding through the writing process that I’ve been lax about keeping everyone up-to-date on progress. So here’s the deal. I finished the…

• Book Review: Kill Decision

  Drone-athon Once in a while I read a book that makes me very, very worried. Daniel Suarez‘s Kill Decision is high on that list. It’s a thriller that explores the potential impacts of drone technology on defense, governance and privacy. Daniel’s a technologist himself and the scenario he’s dreamt up is so scary precisely because…

• Book Review: Nexus

  Ramez Nam spent 13 years building cutting edge communication and artificial intelligence software at Microsoft. He founded Apex NanoTechnologies, which built software for molecular design. He’s also a huge adventure fan, climbing mountains, diving reefs, etc. Along the way he must have learned a thing or two about storytelling because his debut novel, Nexus, is…

• Startup sausage fest

  Last week I was talking to a good friend and biotech entrepreneur who recently moved to Palo Alto. He described the mediocre night life as “a tech sausage fest.” The prototypical 20-something white male startup founder is really starting to get stale. I’m a 20-something white male myself and I’m really ready to see some…

• Done!

  We’re sitting here on Maafushi island in the Maldives and I just finished the first draft of my first book! Thanks  to all the people who helped out along the way with support, brainstorming and inspiration. Now the real work begins: editing… It’s a startup drama about a pair of founders who drop out of…

• Book Review: The Lean Entrepreneur

  Grow your business through experimentation Is uncertainty overwhelming your business’s next big bet? Trying to stay ahead of the curve? Getting ready to launch a disruptive product in your new startup? You might want to build-measure-learn. Brant Cooper and Patrick Vlaskovits have gone above and beyond the call of duty to put together the next must…

• I have a problem

  Why isn’t there more fiction about startups? Pounding out a chapter in Narita airport There are countless non-fiction books that explore different aspects of the venture world. They profile amazing and not so amazing companies, articulate best practices and share insights and advice. But there is so little good entrepreneurial fiction. There’s something about a really…

• Book Review: A.I. Apocalypse

  William Hertling is a software security consultant who’s recently started to pump out some of the most interesting techno-thrillers out there. A.I. Apocalypse is the follow up to Hertling’s breakout hit Avogadro Corp that follows the development of a rogue artificial intelligence by a Google-like company (techies will notice the clever play on Google’s name).…