Valley of Genius

The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley (As Told by the Hackers, Founders, and Freaks Who Made It Boom)

By: Adam Fisher

Narrated by: Pete Larkin

"This is the most important book on Silicon Valley I've read in two decades. It will take us all back to our roots in the counterculture, and will remind us of the true nature of the innovation process, before we tried to tame it with slogans and buzzwords." -- Po Bronson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nudist on the Late Shift and Nurtureshock
A candid, colorful, and comprehensive oral history that reveals the secrets of Silicon Valley -- from the origins of Apple and Atari to the present day clashes of Google and Facebook, and all the start-ups and disruptions that happened along the way.
Rarely has one economy asserted itself as swiftly--and as aggressively--as the entity we now know as Silicon Valley. Built with a seemingly permanent culture of reinvention, Silicon Valley does not fight change; it embraces it, and now powers the American economy and global innovation.

So how did this omnipotent and ever-morphing place come to be? It was not by planning. It was, like many an empire before it, part luck, part timing, and part ambition. And part pure, unbridled genius...

Drawing on over two hundred in-depth interviews, Valley of Genius takes readers from the dawn of the personal computer and the internet, through the heyday of the web, up to the very moment when our current technological reality was invented. It interweaves accounts of invention and betrayal, overnight success and underground exploits, to tell the story of Silicon Valley like it has never been told before. Read it to discover the stories that Valley insiders tell each other: the tall tales that are all, improbably, true.

Critic reviews

"This is the most important book on Silicon Valley I've read in two decades. It will take us all back to our roots in the counterculture, and will remind us of the true nature of the innovation process, before we tried to tame it with slogans and buzzwords."—Po Bronson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nudist on the Late Shift and Nurtureshock

"VALLEY OF GENIUS is its own kind of genius. Original in its construction, prodigious, funny, raw and polished, it is an amazing work of reporting from a skilled writer with an insider's love of Silicon Valley. You feel like you are in the room with some of the greatest entrepreneurial minds-men and women-of our time, listening to history in the making."—Julian Guthrie, New York Times bestselling author of How to Make a Spaceship

"The beauty of oral histories is that enough time has passed for people to say what really happened. And what really happened is one of the great stories of our day. Gripping."—Chris Anderson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Long Tail and Makers: The New Industrial Revolution

"A fantastic read! Adam Fisher's history of Silicon Valley is compelling and thorough, full of fascinating and inspiring stories carefully curated by someone who truly knows his stuff. Should be on every entrepreneur's desk!"—Ben Mezrich, New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires

"VALLEY OF GENIUS is a blast-it's like eavesdropping on a huge party of all the hackers, thinkers and creators that built our digital world. Every page has some crazy detail I never knew before; I couldn't put it down."—Clive Thompson, author of Smarter Than You Think

"Much of the modern world was invented before the public noticed what was happening in the emerging Internet. Idealists and innovators worked together to invent the future that we live in now. VALLEY OF GENIUS is their story, told well, and I really enjoyed it."—Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist

"The stories Adam Fisher weaves together in VALLEY OF GENIUS alone make the book a fascinating read: tales of heroic innovation, risk and reward, boom and bust cycles. But Fisher achieves something even more important with this 'autobiography' of Silicon Valley: an understanding of how momentous technological changes in society come about, and how they can sometimes surprise even their creators with their broader impact."—Steven Johnson, bestselling author of How We Got to Now

"Adam Fisher has given us an animated, incisive account of Silicon Valley history, with all of its iconic heroes and villains, told in a symphony of testimonials from the very people who had a seat at the revolution."—Brad Stone, bestselling author of The Everything Store and The Upstarts

What a journey... Amazong

It's interesting to hear the stories from those that were actually there and made it happen.

As told by the ones who made it happen

The most amazing thing about this historical perspective on the growth and impact of Silicon Valley culture is that so much of it is in the form of quotes by the subjects themselves. The author assembled these quotes in such a masterful way, it’s hard to tell which conversations were in real time, and which were stitched together virtually. The author always lets you know who is speaking, and the context is full enough so that you can paint a picture of the time and place in your mind. It’s like you are there in the room where it all happened, and that’s both exciting and enlightening. However you approach this topic, one cannot escape the conclusion that the world has forever changed and is still evolving because of the convergence of culture and capital that is Silicon Valley.

Interesting Format

Laid out as a series of quotes, Valley of Genius tells the history of silicon valley through the words of it's people. I assume the book works well in physical form, but it definitely took a moment of getting used to hearing someone's name called out before each quote -- though this system did well to reinforce the content matter.

If you're interested in the valley, start ups, unicorns, or the history of the modern tech era, this is probably a good place to start. I've heard a decent portion of the information in this book, but never in direct quotes from the participant's themselves, or framed as well in (mostly) chronological order.

First person account of how we got to here

I found out about this book listening to the TWIT Podcast network. How the author assembled this book, both through interviews and the actual physical process was very interesting. So, I had to read the book and I was not disappointed. From a first person account, based mostly on personal interviews, the author paints a very clear picture of the birth of most of the giant internet companies. Pete Larkin is a great reader and gave the book a wonderful voice. After reading about what went on in the early stages of these companies, it's amazing that any of them survived.

Rivetting content, terrible production

The book's greatest strength is it's content. it's an interesting view of the history of Silicon Valley. Hearing from the likes of Alan Kay, Jobs etc. added to the "inside out" perspective.
The production quality however was poor, jarring and painful. Getting through the early chapters was an absolute torture. Poor audio editing plagues the book, with abrupt and badly done audio corrections often ruining the experience.

A great, thought provoking work

There are some bits of dialog the had to be fixed/updated, and the sound is just a bit off. since this book is primary a book of qoutes, I think it would have been better if an entire quote was updated.

that being said, there's a lot of great content. I'd highly recommend this book.

Not suitable for audiobook

The format of this book doesn’t lend itself to the audiobook format. It seems like a great book, but i would buy a printed edition.

Annoying to listen to

The way the book was put together does not make it easy to listen to. Each chapter is just a bunch of people, each with their own quote, put together in a way to try to tell a fluid story.

It listens almost like a screenplay

There’s a ‘(who is speaking):’ every paragraph with very little yarn from the author himself. Really, Adam Fisher (aside from an interesting intro) should be considered an editor.

And an excellent one he is. The vignettes are masterfully selected and stitched together with the relevant interesting voices.

The format -constant POV switching read by a lone voice- is not ideal for audible and the vocal patch in’s on correction seem to have not been mastered in competently.

The content however is a must for any technologists or forward thinking would be mover out there. We’ve all got to learn our History first and this brings all the right Palo Alto tales- 18hrs worth for just one credit!

great story, would have been better as an intervie

this is the story of silicon valley in San Francisco from the 70s to modern times. I've listened to the source of many of the interviews that led to this book. book would have been better if instead of one reader it took the form of this series of interviews.