The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story

This is a book that would be of great interest to both investors and computer engineers.

I read "The New New Thing" because Michael Lewis is truly one of the very best investigative journalists of our times. His in-depth research into the business side of Silicon Valley during the 1980s and 1990s offers valuable information that only those who read the scientific journals would typically have knowledge of.

His biography of Jim Clark reveals Clark's desire to design a robotic sailboat, which has now been successfully achieved. Students from the University of British Columbia in Canada designed a robotic boat named Ada that sailed from Newfoundland to Portugal and then to Florida. Unmanned, it managed to survive the wretched hurricanes of 2017 in the Atlantic Ocean.

I was extremely interested to learn that this was an idea that originated in Silicon Valley back in the 1990s, a pet project of the ultra-successful Jim Clark. Clark, the brilliant businessman and computer scientist, has the remarkable ability to turn a simple idea into a technology company worth billions. He accomplished this with four companies: Silicon Graphics, Netscape, Healtheon WebMD, and myCFO.

The venture capitalists were reaping by far the largest profit from the technical inventions of the hardworking and talented engineers. However, Clark became aware of this and took steps to make things fair for his employees.

Silicon Valley, though home to casually dressed young people, is anything but laid back. The competition to stay at the forefront of every new technological breakthrough is incredibly fierce.

The U.S. and Canada have been surpassed in their pursuit of acquiring brilliant engineers. The educational system designed in India under Nehru in the 1960s has produced the top computer engineers in the world. Each year, the top 2000 students there are granted entrance to and full scholarships at the highly rated Indian Institutes of Technology. Many of these graduates leave India to work in Silicon Valley.

It is important to note that this book is not new. It was written in 1999. There is an epilogue in the edition I read that provides updated information. One of the new new things in the lifetime of most people who would be reading this book is the new generation of engineers. They are computer engineers, and many of them do not know how the engine on a ship is constructed. This was evident when the engine in Clark's yacht Hyperion continuously broke down. They were only able to fix the problem if it had something to do with the signal coming from the computers. There is always value in the old, as well.

It is truly difficult to fully understand Jim Clark, the real subject of this book, who led three different billion-dollar companies: Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Healtheon (WebMD). He and his companies are the central focus of this work. The author not only provides an in-depth review of the crazy times in the late 1990s in both technology and the stock market but also offers some fascinating insights.

I think Biff Tannen (yes, the one from Back to the Future) would have benefited more from this book than his Sports Almanac. Just imagine being able to know exactly which companies to invest in during the tech stock bubble and also when to withdraw your money from the market.

After reading Moneyball and then The Blindside, it was interesting to go back and read one of Michael Lewis's earlier works. He has definitely improved over time. This book seems a bit more raw and less polished compared to his later ones. It was nice to revisit the timeline of the internet bubble and think back to when the most legally created wealth in history was being generated. Again, this is why I believe Biff would have been better off with this book than the almanac from Back to the Future. Our friend Biff might have had a hard time finding his way to Vegas to place a legal bet. As the line from the book goes, "Change leads to wealth and wealth means money," whether it's for Biff or Jim Clark.

It was quite shocking to discover that the main reason Clark pushed for the Netscape IPO was to finance his boat. In fact, the story of the boat he built felt a bit disjointed, but it does manage to tie together Silicon Valley, starting up companies, and building a computerized yacht. I really don't like the fact that Jim created myCFO. To create yet another company after already starting three with such a simple concept is rather irritating to us ordinary people.

I would say that only three groups of people would enjoy this book:

1. Michael Lewis fans.

2. Tech nerds who are eager to hear the inside story of SGI and Netscape.

3. People from the valley who want to recall the good old days.

Other than those groups, you can probably skip this one. Well, that is unless you have a time machine and want to make some serious money in the stock market.

The article had its interesting moments, which managed to capture my attention at certain points.

However, it seemed a bit too long-winded and could have been presented in a more concise manner.

There were parts that felt rather repetitive or could have been condensed without losing the essence of the message.

If the author had focused on trimming down the unnecessary details and presenting the key points more succinctly, the article would have been even more engaging and easier to read.

Overall, while it had its闪光点, there is definitely room for improvement in terms of brevity and clarity.

This would make the article more accessible and appealing to a wider audience.

I think I was on a quest to read every Michael Lewis book at the time I read this. Dude. This book was straight awful. I had this assumption that Michael Lewis + Silicon Valley would equal a great novel. But boy, was I wrong. I remember it was vaguely about the rise of technology, but I swear half of the book was about some rich douche and his sailing escapade. It was so frustrating and uninteresting. I really don't recommend anyone to read this book. It was a waste of my time and I'm sure it would be a waste of yours too. There are so many other great books out there that are worth your time and attention. So do yourself a favor and skip this one.

Here is the expanded version:

There are a few interesting tidbits about Jim Clark and Silicon Valley. These are truly the highlights of this book. However, the rest of the content is rather a bore. It mainly focuses on his yacht and the Healtheon venture.

Jim Clark is a well-known figure in the tech world, and learning about his experiences and contributions in Silicon Valley can be quite fascinating. But when it comes to the details about his yacht, it seems a bit out of place and doesn't add much value to the overall narrative.

The same goes for the Healtheon venture. While it may have been an important part of his career, the way it is presented in the book fails to engage the reader. It could have been more interesting if there were more insights into the challenges and successes of this venture.

Overall, this book has its moments, but it could have been much better if the author had focused more on the aspects that truly matter and less on the less relevant details.

Lewis, Michael. (1999). The New New Thing. W.W. Norton & Company, New York, NY.

This book offers a witty and highly insightful exploration of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Silicon Valley. It is presented as a captivating story of the adventures of Jim Clark, a serial entrepreneur.

Clark's journey is filled with excitement, challenges, and remarkable achievements. Through his experiences, readers gain a deep understanding of the unique culture, the cutthroat competition, and the innovative spirit that defines Silicon Valley.

The author's engaging writing style makes this book not only informative but also thoroughly entertaining. It is truly one of the best books ever written on the Valley, providing valuable insights into the world of high-tech entrepreneurship and the forces that drive it.

Whether you are an entrepreneur, a business enthusiast, or simply interested in the fascinating world of Silicon Valley, this book is a must-read.

If you pick up The New New Thing, don't expect it to offer profound insights into the workings of the Internet business environment or the secrets of creating a successful Internet startup. For that kind of knowledge, it's advisable to read books like The Cluetrain Manifesto by Christopher Locke, Rick Levine, David Weinberger, and Doc Searls, The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Eric Raymond, and even High Stakes, No Prisoners by Charles Ferguson.

The New New Thing is, in essence, an old-fashioned kind of book. It has more in common with biographies of 19th-century adventurers and soldiers of fortune than with contemporary works on Internet startups and the new economy.
It tells the wild and improbable story of Jim Clark, filled with gossipy details but lacking in useful information. His supposed ability to predict the "new new thing" and amass billions from it is presented as an unaccountable, almost magical power. For instance, he set a record by founding three multi-billion-dollar companies - Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Healtheon. However, our sense of wonder is diminished by the lack of any connection to practical reality or any lessons that others could learn from his experiences.
This book is a good read, a quick and entertaining one that lovers of celebrity biographies will enjoy. But the same could be said for The Devil Drives: a Life of Sir Richard Burton by Fawn Brodie. Just like Sir Richard Burton, Jim Clark had incredible luck or instinct, or perhaps both, allowing him to succeed against all odds time and again. However, unlike Burton, Clark's life was never in danger, and he doesn't seem to have shown any interest in the meaning or significance of what he was doing.
The biographer seems more interested in the player than in the game. It's like watching a World Series game where the camera remains fixed on Mickey Mantle, and the announcer talks only about him throughout the game. While Mickey may make some great plays, much of the time he is just sitting on the bench, and we are entertained with flashbacks and anecdotes about his personal life. Yes, it's entertaining, but it doesn't give us a true understanding of the game. Similarly, this book is very entertaining, but it gives us no idea of the game that Jim Clark was playing or how others could succeed in that game.
Particularly revealing is the description of how Clark ended up founding Netscape. He is portrayed as the mastermind behind the failed "interactive TV" concept, having convinced the business world that the public wanted movies on demand and prepackaged information delivered through high-tech boxes connected to TV sets. It was only almost by chance that they turned their attention to the Internet as an alternative.
The fundamental premise of "interactive TV" was flawed and completely at odds with the Internet style. It was not truly "interactive" as it aimed to have a small number of mega-companies deliver high-priced content to passive consumers, with limited choices and a focus on keeping the consumer locked in to a single vendor. In contrast, the Internet was about people connecting with each other, creating their own content, self-publishing, and starting their own businesses on a shoestring budget to reach a global audience. It was about diversity, choice, and the beautiful anarchy of millions of people directly connected.
As it happened, Clark's Netscape gave the Internet a huge boost with a new browser that significantly speeded up access to Web pages, even at the relatively slow 14.4 modem speeds common in 1994. This made the Web more fun and useful, accelerating its acceptance by the general public and businesses. However, if Lewis is correct, Clark was completely unaware of what he was doing and the potential impact on the global economy. He was like Columbus, stumbling upon something great without really knowing what it was.
The other instances of Clark's multi-billion-dollar successes - Silicon Graphics and Healtheon - were perhaps more about money than anything else and may not have had much long-term significance. The book spends a lot of time on Healtheon, a questionable business model that was sold to the investing public largely based on Clark's previous reputation, at a time when the market was extremely gullible. This part of the story doesn't seem particularly adventurous or worthy of our awe.
Here is a man with over a billion dollars in assets investing a relatively small amount in another idea and managing to convince the public that it could work, without any real evidence, thereby driving up the value of the stock to billions. His risk was minimal, and his gain was enormous. It seems more like the story of a successful swindler than a great explorer like Columbus. And once again, the biographer fails to give us any sense of how Clark achieved what he did, how he made the Internet "funny money" appear and disappear, or the consequences of his actions on anyone other than himself and his close associates.

Quick read, like most of Michael Lewis' books. However, it seemed less captivating than some of his others.

Nevertheless, even though this book was published over a decade ago, it remains highly relevant. It offers a wealth of fascinating context regarding the early days of the tech industry as we understand it today.

One significant takeaway is how Jim Clark played a crucial role in transforming the startup value system. He tilted the balance in favor of labor (founders) and their ideas/execution rather than capital (VCs). But it's important to note that this is only the case for certain companies like Google and Facebook, not all. In essence, this book functions more as a biography of Jim Clark than a comprehensive history of Silicon Valley.

Also, while I was aware that Jim Clark founded Netscape, I knew relatively little about his involvements with Silicon Graphics or Healtheon (which later acquired WedMD). This further emphasizes the idea that he is truly one-of-a-kind in his sometimes blind pursuit of the next "new thing".

Overall, despite its limitations, the book provides valuable insights into the early tech landscape and the remarkable figure of Jim Clark.