Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2. 0 by Sarah Lacy

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Synopsis

The captivating story of the mavericks who emerged from the dot-com rubble to found the multibillion-dollar companies taking the Web into the twenty-first century

Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good is the story of the entrepreneurs who learned their lesson from the Internet bust of 2000 and in recent years have created groundbreaking new Web companies. The second iteration of the dot-coms—dubbed "Web 2.0"—is all about bringing people together. Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace unite friends online; YouTube lets anyone post videos for the world to see; Digg.com allows Internet users to vote on the most relevant news of the day; Six Apart sells software that enables bloggers to post their viewpoints online; and Slide helps people customize their virtual selves.

Business reporter Sarah Lacy brings to light the entire Web 2.0 scene: the wide-eyed but wary entrepreneurs, the hated venture capitalists, the bloggers fueling the hype, the programmers coding through the night, the twenty-something millionaires, and the Internet "fan boys" eager for all the promises to come true.

Richard Drezen - Library Journal

Some folks think that Silicon Valley went bust along with the dot.com meltdown of 2000, but Business Week columnist Lacy begs to differ. Here, she explores the new terrain of Web 2.0 coming out of a resurgent Silicon Valley, profiling notable Internet entrepreneurs Max Levchin (cofounder, PayPal) and Mark Zuckerberg (founder, Facebook), as well as others. Her explanation of the Web 2.0 evolution uses the concept of the digitization of identity whereby users of social-networking sites, web-based communities, and blogs actively and willingly share their personal data as they contribute and collaborate with others on the web. (Amazingly, her discussion omits any mention of privacy concerns.) In this second-generation web environment, Lacy writes, businesses are cheaper to run, easier to operate, and more immediately profitable than ever before. Although Lacy's writing style is occasionally gossipy, her observations on the future of technology-especially involving Silicon Valley-are engaging and smart. While the jury is still out on whether Web 2.0 will prove to be just another Internet bubble, Lacy's assessment of it is resoundingly positive. Recommended for larger nonfiction collections.

Biography

Sarah Lacy has reported on start-ups and venture capital in Silicon Valley for nearly a decade. She is a columnist for BusinessWeek and cohosts "Tech Ticker" on Yahoo! Finance.