VC

An American History

By: Tom Nicholas

Narrated by: Bob Souer

Length: 13 hrs

Publisher's summary

A major exploration of venture financing, from its origins in the whaling industry to Silicon Valley, that shows how venture capital created an epicenter for the development of high-tech innovation.

VC tells the riveting story of how the industry arose from the United States' long-running orientation toward entrepreneurship. Venture capital has been driven from the start by the pull of outsized returns through a skewed distribution of payoffs - a faith in low-probability but substantial financial rewards that rarely materialize. Whether the gamble is a whaling voyage setting sail from New Bedford or the newest startup in Silicon Valley, VC is not just a model of finance that has proven difficult to replicate in other countries. It is a state of mind exemplified by an appetite for risk-taking, a bold spirit of adventure, and an unbridled quest for improbable wealth through investment in innovation.

Tom Nicholas' history of the venture capital industry offers listeners a ride on the roller coaster of setbacks and success in America's pursuit of financial gain.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 The President and Fellows of Harvard College (P)2019 Tantor

good history book, the last quarter is interesting

or is a very thorough history book, I definitely appreciate the research, in terms of interest, the last part (covering the 80s forward) is more interesting and relevant imho, but it's a matter of personal preference.

I guess personal VC stories can be more interesting.

Tells a great history of VC in America

I thought this book did a great job telling us about the different events that took place in the VC world since inception. It even goes further back and draws commonalities with other industries that used a VC like mentality, mainly long tail distribution. I specifically enjoyed that it offered the history component since it is important to know how we got here.

A pretty standard business history book

Despite being a pretty dry genre, a good rendering of people and events in VC.

Awesome Academic History of VC Industry

The long history of venture capital, dating back to the early 1800 New England whaling vessels, the region’s early forays into textiles, and England’s attempts to avoid such technology transfer were fascinating. Learning how mid 1900s Boston & Wall Street venture capital migrated to San Francisco Bay Area was equally fascinating. A long arc of history.

Great summary

This is probably the most complete and engaging summary of VC’s history in America. Well researched and the audiobook comes with a PDF of figures to reference.

Could have been better if it was a shorter book

Way too much time was spent on the whaling industry. I was beginning to think it was a book on the history of wailing and the killing of Wales. I understand that that is how Vesey started however I would’ve put more focus on the modern VC not ancient history

history of venture capital

I think it was a good book that talked about the overall history of venture capital from The wailing industry to around 2000. worth a read if you want to see where it came from