The Launch Pad
Inside Y Combinator, Silicon Valley's Most Exclusive School for Startups
Randall Stross
- In
- The
- Launch
- Pad,
- Randall
- Stross,
- author
- of
- eBoys
- and
- Planet
- Google,
- takes
- a
- behind-the-scenes
- look
- at
- how
- tomorrow's
- hottest
- startups
- are
- being
- primed
- for
- greatness.Twice
- a
- year,
- in
- the
- heart
- of
- Silicon
- Valley,
- a
- small
- investment
- firm
- called
- Y
- Combinator
- selects
- an
- elite
- group
- of
- young
- entrepreneurs.
- Months
- of
- intense
- work
- culminates
- in
- Demo
- Day,
- when
- investors
- and
- venture
- capitalists
- flock
- to
- hear
- their
- pitches.
- Any
- one
- of
- them
- might
- turn
- out
- to
- be
- the
- next
- Dropbox
- (class
- of
- 2007),
- or
- Airbnb
- (class
- of
- 2009).Randall
- Stross
- was
- granted
- unprecedented
- access
- to
- Y
- Combinator,
- enabling
- a
- unique
- inside
- tour
- of
- the
- world
- of
- software
- startups.
- He
- tells
- the
- full
- story
- of
- this
- ultra-exclusive
- institution,
- how
- it
- chooses
- the
- aspiring
- Mark
- Zuckerbergs,
- and
- how
- it
- teaches
- them
- to
- go
- from
- concept
- to
- profitability
- in
- record
- time.This
- is
- the
- definitive
- story
- of
- a
- seismic
- shift
- in
- the
- business
- world,
- in
- which
- coding
- skill
- beats
- job
- experience,
- pairs
- of
- undergraduates
- take
- on
- Goliaths,
- and
- investors
- fall
- in
- love.
- The
- Launch
- Pad
- is
- both
- a
- gripping
- narrative
- and
- a
- gold
- mine
- of
- useful
- insights.'A
- must-read
- for
- anyone
- interested
- in
- the
- realities
- of
- modern
- entrepreneurship'
- -Eric
- Ries,
- author
- of
- The
- Lean
- Startup'Stross's
- account
- of
- the
- best
- new
- entrepreneurs
- and
- the
- exciting
- companies
- they're
- building
- at
- startup
- schools
- is
- a
- great
- read
- for
- founders
- and
- would-be
- founders
- alike'
- -Marc
- Andreessen,
- cofounder,
- Andreessen
- HorowitzRandall
- Stross
- is
- the
- author
- of
- several
- acclaimed
- books,
- including
- eBoys,
- Planet
- Google,
- and
- The
- Wizard
- of
- Menlo
- Park.
- He
- has
- a
- Ph.D.
- in
- history
- from
- Stanford University.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
