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VC

An American History
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( 461 ratings, 63 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
VC traces the fascinating development of the venture capital industry from its roots in America's entrepreneurial and risk-taking spirit to its role as a pivotal force in modern innovation. The book explores ventures from historic whaling expeditions to cutting-edge Silicon Valley startups, highlighting the venture capital mindset characterised by risk tolerance, ambition for high financial returns, and faith in innovation. It also examines iconic firms like Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia and their investments in companies such as Genentech and Apple, illustrating why venture capital remains a distinctively American institution.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for readers interested in the history of finance, entrepreneurship, and innovation. It will appeal to students, academics, professionals in venture capital or startups, and anyone curious about the economic forces behind technological progress and American business culture.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

An incisive history of the venture-capital industry.
-New Yorker

An excellent and original economic history of venture capital.
-Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution

A detailed, fact-filled account of America's most celebrated moneymen.
-New Republic

Extremely interesting, readable, and informative. Tom Nicholas tells you most everything you ever wanted to know about the history of venture capital, from the financing of the whaling industry to the present multibillion-dollar venture funds.
-Arthur Rock

In principle, venture capital is where the ordinarily conservative, cynical domain of big money touches dreamy, long-shot enterprise. In practice, it has become the distinguishing big-business engine of our time. [A] first-rate history.
-New Yorker

VC tells the riveting story of how the venture capital industry arose from America's longstanding identification with entrepreneurship and risk-taking. Whether the venture is a whaling voyage setting sail from New Bedford or the latest Silicon Valley startup, VC is a state of mind as much as a way of doing business, exemplified by an appetite for seeking extreme financial rewards, a tolerance for failure and experimentation, and a faith in the promise of innovation to generate new wealth.

Tom Nicholas's authoritative history takes us on a roller coaster of entrepreneurial successes and setbacks. It describes how iconic firms like Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia invested in Genentech and Apple even as it tells the larger story of venture capital's birth and evolution, revealing along the way why venture capital is such a quintessentially American institutionβ€”one that has proven difficult to recreate elsewhere.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

New Yorker describes the book as an "incisive history of the venture-capital industry," while New Republic praises its detailed, fact-filled account of America’s most celebrated investors. Tyler Cowen of Marginal Revolution calls it an "excellent and original economic history." The reviews commend Nicholas's exploration of venture capital's reliance on government policy and its role in commercialising new technologies. The book is noted for its readability and informative nature, valuable both for those familiar with venture capital and newcomers.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780674248267

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 22 September 2020

Country: United States

Imprint: Harvard University Press

Illustration: 33 illus., 2 tables

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 28.0mm

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 210.0mm

Weight: 363g

Pages: 400

About the Author

Tom Nicholas is William J. Abernathy Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He holds a doctorate from Oxford University. Prior to joining HBS, he taught at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the London School of Economics. At HBS he teaches a second-year elective course on American business and economic history, which examines entrepreneurship, innovation, and business development in the United States over the past 240 years. He has received the Faculty Teaching Award multiple times and the Charles M. Williams Award for Excellence in Teaching.

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