As a dedicated fan of Michael Lewis, having thoroughly enjoyed his works such as The Big Short and others, I found myself extremely disappointed with this particular book.

If one were not to skip a significant number of chapters, it would seem as if the book was solely about a sailboat. This unexpected and rather off-topic focus was a major letdown.

Furthermore, it becomes rather evident that Michael has some sort of infatuation or perhaps a strong admiration bordering on the romantic for Jim Clark, the founder of Netscape. Throughout the entire book, he just can't seem to refrain from glorifying and romanticizing about him.

However, if one can somehow overlook all of these aspects, then I suppose the book was just average. But truth be told, I was really hoping that it would have delved deeper into the exciting and momentous big technology boom that took place from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. This missed opportunity left me feeling rather dissatisfied with the overall content and direction of the book.

The second book of Michael Lewis that I discovered through some excerpts in Vanity Fair or the New York Times has truly changed my life forever!

His remarkable talent for storytelling, while simultaneously extracting and discerning the crucial insights into his protagonist's success, is simply astonishing. In this instance, it's the new billionaire and angel investor, Jim Clark, who achieved a home run and shaped what we now cannot do without on a daily basis - the internet - through his venture in Netscape.

Lewis shares numerous anecdotes and stories with the raw details behind the scenes of Silicon Valley. These vivid accounts demonstrate just how difficult (yet, in a sense, easy) it became or could become for someone else if they have such an insight and never give up, despite facing competition from all directions.

Clark's co-founder, Marc Andreessen, fresh off of Mosaic (as I believe), and Jim Clark pioneered the software and what some might argue is "greater than software" web browser, Netscape. This not only led them both to become near-billionaires from Netscape alone but also enabled them to forge strategic partnerships with hardware and software companies. These partnerships would later become the business model for future endeavors, such as product launches and incubators for other leading additions to Netscape.

I have a profound love for Lewis' writing style, and this book has brought me great enjoyment. My personal passion for the Web and its history was initially what led me to pick up this book. Although it focuses on the career of a single individual, Jim Clark, the founder of Netscape, I still found it extremely captivating.

The author's vivid descriptions and detailed accounts of Clark's journey make the story come alive. It provides a unique perspective on the evolution of the Internet and the role that Clark played in shaping it. The book not only delves into the technological aspects but also explores the personal and professional challenges that Clark faced along the way.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the Web, technology, or entrepreneurship. It is a fascinating read that offers valuable insights and inspiration.

Of all of Lewis's books, this particular one really struck a chord with me when I began reading it somewhat randomly.

It is truly fascinating to view the Dot-Com Bubble from the perspective of a writer during that era and draw comparisons to the subsequent tech booms of my generation.

Here's an interesting excerpt:

[A] great many of the traditional rules of capitalism were set aside. For example, it had been a common practice among Silicon Valley venture capitalists that they wouldn't introduce a new technology company to the investing public until it had achieved at least four consecutive profitable quarters. Netscape, however, had nothing but huge losses to present to investors. Nevertheless, its spectacular success in the stock market established a precedent. No longer was it necessary to demonstrate profits; instead, rapid growth was what mattered. In fact, having a past could even be a disadvantage for a company, as a past represented a record, and a record was seen as an indication of a company's limitations. (85)

This shows how the Dot-Com Bubble brought about significant changes in the way the business world operated, challenging long-held beliefs and practices.

Jim Clark is an idiosyncratic and eccentric tech billionaire. Years later, he would become the archetype of his industry. He established three distinct and successful startups,始终专注于那些能让他获得下一笔巨额财富的“新新事物”。他被野心和金钱同等驱使，而他对这两者的热爱，只有对昂贵帆船的热爱能超越。

这是迈克尔·刘易斯的又一本非常好的书。他真的很会写作。在帆船之旅和当下之间的跳跃有时有点突兀，但它确实有助于展现吉姆的心态。

我对我不知道的硅谷历史着迷。吉姆·克拉克处于所有这些的前沿。他认为“一旦微软进入一个市场，就退出”的观点很滑稽，也显示了硅谷发生了多大的变化。从IBM到微软再到谷歌，随着信息领域产品的变化，巨头也在变化。有兴趣看看下一个巨头会是谁。

After he is through, the author can see the reflection of himself off Clark's boots.

It is a rather strange and perhaps somewhat disconcerting sight. The author stands there, looking at this distorted image of himself in the shine of Clark's boots.

It makes him wonder about the nature of perception and how we see ourselves through the eyes of others, or in this case, through the reflection on an object belonging to someone else.

The reflection seems to tell a story, a story that the author is not quite sure he understands.

Maybe it is a reminder of his own presence in that moment, of his connection to Clark and the situation they are in.

Or perhaps it is a symbol of something deeper, something that lies within the author himself and is being revealed through this unexpected reflection.

As the author continues to gaze at the reflection, he is lost in thought, trying to make sense of what it all means.

While I have truly loved every piece of work I've read by Michael Lewis thus far, this particular book held a special allure for me. The reason being that I am acquainted with several of the individuals mentioned within its pages.

In particular, I had the pleasure of working with Motasim Najeeb at Castlight for a span of three years. It was through him that I was introduced to Pavan Nigam. Additionally, I am also familiar with approximately 5 - 10 other people who were associated with Healtheon.

The book meticulously tracks the meandering path of Jim Clark. He progresses from founding Silicon Graphics, then onto Netscape, and finally to Healtheon. All three of these companies managed to achieve a market capitalization exceeding $1 billion. However, it's also true that all three ultimately found themselves in a state of some degree of disarray.

SGI was ultimately outpaced by Moore's Law when it came to engineering workstations. This wasn't because Clark wasn't making efforts to respond to the threat. The book doesn't present a very flattering image of most of the other SGI executives. Nevertheless, it's evident that Clark often didn't make things easy for them.

The book concludes with Healtheon still on a relatively high note. However, I believe that the acquisition of WebMD set them on a path that significantly diverted from their original plan. I had a conversation with another co-worker who was also at Healtheon, discussing why the promising state of the company in 1999 ultimately led to it going off the rails. Healtheon attempted to grow through several acquisitions. One of these acquisitions resulted in the acquired CEO taking over and pushing out a significant number of the original Healtheon employees. WebMD is still in existence and has achieved success, but it has long since abandoned the Healtheon mission.

Years down the road when fables of capitalism are written, Silicon Valley’s boom of the 90s will hold an immortal place.

I have always been intrigued by the tech boom of the 90s and the key figures who were instrumental in its success. This book, while briefly touching on other contributors to the tech boom, focuses more on Jim Clark. He is the man who founded Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Heltheon. Like a master chef who utilizes a well-stocked kitchen to prepare delicious delicacies, Jim Clark used all the resources at his disposal to build three enterprises, each worth over a billion dollars. He was undoubtedly one of the key players in the fundamental shift of the American economy. This seismic shift created a sense of euphoria among people, persuading them to invest in these enterprises first, hoping that profits would follow. The euphoria suspended the old rules of capitalism, perhaps making Graham and Dod turn in their graves, and leading Alan Greenspan to coin the term “irrational exuberance.”

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in getting an introduction to the tech boom, learning about Jim Clark, and understanding how he turned his quixotic ambitions into reality.

PS: Michael Lewis’ books are always a pleasure to read.

I am a big fan of Michael Lewis.

He has a remarkable talent for telling stories that focus on revolutionary thinkers who dare to disrupt the conventional mindset.

"The New New Thing" does an excellent job of capturing the essence of Silicon Valley in the 1990s. Technology was evolving at an astonishing pace, and billions of dollars in highly speculative investor value were being generated seemingly out of thin air and optimism. Lewis is a masterful narrator of this exciting journey.

However, while Lewis always manages to find fascinating geniuses to center his stories around, his main flaw is that he becomes completely convinced by the brilliance of his revolutionary thinker and dismisses everything else that is not related to that thinker. This is evident in this book as well. Jim Clark, the subject here, has not been a great creator of anything other than shareholder value. Netscape and other companies he founded have long been absorbed. Healtheon became WebMD and achieved some success, but it failed miserably in its goal of revolutionizing healthcare. All of this seems to be overlooked by Lewis.

Moreover, at times he ridicules things outside of Jim Clark's domain, with rather embarrassing results. Towards the end of the book, when discussing the highly speculative investments of the day, on one hand he praises the venture capitalists who blindly invest in any idea that Jim Clark has, but on the other hand, he cites an example of venture capitalists throwing money at a startup with a nonsensical name that is not affiliated with Clark and implies that the investment is foolish. Of course, the startup that Lewis ridiculed was Google (facepalm). Jim Clark is also not an easy person to like. Despite his vision, his fixation on his ostentatious boat makes him seem like just another rich buffoon.

Nevertheless, this is still an enjoyable read, and although it is now a bit outdated and perhaps not the best work that Michael Lewis has to offer, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

I read this book in paperback. I picked it up right after New Year, but did the majority of the reading this week during weeknights.

When I first checked out this book from the library, I had the impression that it was about Airbnb or Google or any other new hot tech companies in the valley in the past 5 years. However, it turns out that it's about the Dot Com miracle maker Jim Clark. I'm sorry to say that I never heard of him until now. Basically, this is an early book of Michael Lewis, long before "Big Short" and "Moneyball" and others that I've read.

The book is a bit strange. It seems to spend a significant amount of space describing Jim's obsession with big boats and programming on the boat. From time to time, it also talks about how Jim founded 3 billion-dollar companies, namely Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Healtheon. It delves into the wrestling between VCs and founders/engineers and how quickly Jim pushed for his not profitable start-up into IPO so that he could get bigger boats.

When I was deep into the book, I almost forgot that it's happening 20 years ago. It looks like history is repeating itself again now, with the crazy IPO frenzy and founders/early employees with options becoming overnight millionaires. I think Jim is a visionary founder, but not so good at execution. He would draw out an idea on a paper and hire smart folks just to figure out all the rest details and then totally leave the mess to others. He did spot the tech trends well ahead of others to take advantage of the internet boom, and to some extent, he was very lucky and bet big on it. After reading this book, I do believe that some sort of bubble burst is pretty close, and who knows how history will play out this time.

I had limited knowledge about Jim Clarke, who was a significant figure in 90s Silicon Valley.

Here, there were some decent tactical lessons regarding creating hype and obtaining leverage in negotiations.

However, aside from that, it was a letdown.

Perhaps my expectations were overly high after reading other outstanding books by Michael Lewis.

Jim Clarke's story might have held more promise initially, but upon closer examination, it failed to fully deliver.

The tactical lessons, while useful, were not enough to salvage the overall experience.

It's possible that I was looking for something more profound and engaging, something that would truly capture the essence of the 90s Silicon Valley and Jim Clarke's role within it.

Nevertheless, despite the disappointment, I still appreciate the opportunity to have learned about this particular aspect of Silicon Valley history.

Maybe in the future, I'll come across another book that will fulfill my expectations and provide a more comprehensive and captivating account of this fascinating era.

Great book! I absolutely loved reading about a pioneer in tech.

The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story (1999) is an engaging non-fiction work by Michael M. Lewis. By profiling Internet entrepreneur Jim Clark, the book vividly tells the story of Silicon Valley's ascent to power during the 1990s. Lewis portrays Clark as an American hero, a restless genius constantly in pursuit of the "New New Thing." However, he also casts a satirical gaze over the early tech industry and the financial sector that inflated its value.

Best known for Liar's Poker (1989), Clark is regarded as one of America's most entertaining business writers. The New New Thing was lauded by critics as "funny, feverishly romantic business reporting in which the American lust for wealth becomes a Byronic quest" (Kirkus Reviews).

Lewis begins the story on Jim Clark's colossal computerized yacht, the Hyperion. The original plan was to test the boat quickly in the North Sea and then sail it across the Atlantic Ocean. It was Clark's desire to build this boat that launched his career and transformed the American economy. One day in the early 1990s, Clark saw an enormous yacht recently acquired by an old friend, which ignited his competitive spirit and led him to conceive the ambition of owning a boat that was not only bigger but could be sailed entirely by computer.

Lewis views the inseparable combination of imagination and ambition as central to Clark, who came from humble beginnings, grew up poor, dropped out of high school, and yet managed to amass a fortune of three or four billion dollars. After briefly recounting Clark's early life and education, Lewis focuses on his professional career.

In the early 1980s, Clark co-founded Silicon Graphics, Inc. By 1991, the company was a world leader in computer-generated visual effects. However, in 1994, Clark became frustrated with the cautious management and left in search of new opportunities.

His next venture was the Netscape Navigator, an easy-to-use browser co-developed with Marc Andreessen. This company not only made Clark a billionaire but also sparked Wall Street's frenzy to invest in technology. Lewis uses the story of Netscape to contrast Clark with Bill Gates, then the most famous business leader in technology. He sees Gates as a dinosaur who wanted the future to resemble the present, while portraying Microsoft as more of a schoolmaster than a pioneering company.

Clark's next new venture was Healtheon, which aimed to streamline the paperwork in the American healthcare industry. He sold Healtheon to Microsoft-backed WebMD, making another handsome profit.

Lewis emphasizes the role of IPOs in Clark's success, arguing that he created the "Internet formula for success" that turned traditional capitalism upside down. In the new economy of Silicon Valley, companies had to show that they were the ones of the future, not the present.

As Lewis tells the story of Clark's businesses, he examines the interplay between venture capital, tech entrepreneurs, and programmers to paint a detailed picture of how Silicon Valley operates. He shows how Clark alternately excites and exhausts those he works with, including the crew of his 157-foot super yacht.

The $1 million yacht ultimately fails in the middle of the Atlantic, but Clark is already onto his next new thing: a company called My C.F.O. that will assist the mega-rich in organizing their financial lives, and a new, even bigger boat.