Rob Lalka

The Venture Alchemists (eBook, ePUB)

How Big Tech Turned Profits Into Power

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

We once idolized tech entrepreneurs for creating innovations that seemed like modern miracles. Yet our faith has been shattered. We now blame them for spreading lies, breaking laws, and causing chaos. Yesterday's Silicon Valley darlings have become today's Big Tech villains. Which is it? Are they superheroes or scoundrels? Or is it more complicated, some blend of both?

In The Venture Alchemists, Rob Lalka demystifies how tech entrepreneurs built empires that made trillions. Meta started as a cruel Halloween prank, Alphabet began as a master's thesis that warned against corporate deception, and Palantir came from a campus controversy over hateful speech. These largely forgotten origin stories show how ordinary fears and youthful ambitions shaped their ventures-making each tech tale relatable, both wonderfully and tragically human. Readers learn about the adversities tech entrepreneurs overcame, the troubling tradeoffs they made, and the tremendous power they now wield. Using leaked documents and previously unpublished archival material, Lalka takes readers inside Big Tech's worst exploitations and abuses, alongside many good intentions and moral compromises.

But this story remains unfinished, and The Venture Alchemists ultimately offers hope from the people who, decades ago, warned about the risks of the emerging Internet. Their insights illuminate a path toward more responsible innovations, so that technologies aren't dangerous weapons but valuable tools that ensure progress, improve society, and enhance our daily lives.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Columbia University Press
• Erscheinungstermin: 14. Mai 2024
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780231558334
• Artikelnr.: 69781064

Autorenporträt

Rob Lalka is the Albert R. Lepage Professor in Business and executive director of the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Tulane University. He is on the board of directors of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, Public Democracy, Inc., and Venture For America in New Orleans. Previously, he served on the U.S. Secretary of State's policy planning staff and in the State Department's Office of Global Partnerships, was a director at Village Capital, and was a senior advisor at the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

Inhaltsangabe

Acknowledgments
Act I. Silicon
1. Sophomoric Exploits: Mark Zuckerberg, Facemash and Thefacebook
2. Dark Arts: Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Backrub and Google
3. You're Going to Get What's Coming to You: Keith Rabois, Peter Thiel, and
David Sacks, PayPal
4. A Self- Fulfilling Prophecy: Travis Kalanick, UberCab
5. White Lies: Bill Shockley, Foundation for Research and Education on
Eugenics and Dysgenics
Act II. Gold
6. Trust Us: Mark Zuckerberg, Thefacebook and Facebook, Inc.
7. Anything It Likes: Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google, Inc.
8. Words Do Matter: Keith Rabois, Peter Thiel, and David Sacks, PayPal and
Founders Fund
9. Rape with an Engraved Invitation: Travis Kalanick, Uber
10. Greed Is Good: J. D. Vance, Mithril Capital and Narya Capital
Act III. Power
11. What Important Truth? Mark Zuckerberg and Peter Thiel, Meta Platforms,
Inc.
12. There Will Be Blood: Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Alphabet Inc.
13. A New Crusade: Peter Thiel, Palantir
14. We Do the Right Thing: Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber Technologies, Inc.
15. Our Great Symbol of Democracy: J. D. Vance and Peter Thiel, Narya
Capital, Rumble, and Clearview AI
Epilogue
Notes
Index