Silicon Gold Rush: The Next Generation of High-Tech Stars Rewrites the Rules of Business

Amazon.com

The fortunes generated by America's technology companies--from Hewlett Packard to PeopleSoft--have created tremendous pressure to generate more fortunes. These financial windfalls have resulted from efforts to identify markets that haven't yet been served, create products for those markets, build a dominant position, and then maintain that market share by continually improving the original product while also pursuing new avenues of enrichment. Silicon Gold Rush looks at this new business model and the management style that makes it possible. Gone is hierarchical management. If a new idea can't be implemented until it's gone up a ladder of managers and committees, then there's no point in bothering; a competitor with less bureaucracy will beat you to the market with something similar.

Besides flattening out management structures, high-tech companies have also created an entirely new take on employee relations. The engineer or programmer or salesperson walking out the door at the end of the day carries the future of the business in his or her head. Give that person a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum, and in a wink he or she is working for your competitor. Karen Southwick presents this new business paradigm in plain English, attaching useful, if sometimes bizarre, examples of how real companies deal with these issues. For example, a valued engineer at one company didn't like working in a cubicle--he needed a quieter space. To keep him happy, his company, Ipsilon Networks, built a roof over his cubicle, and gave him a door with a working doorbell. One can't imagine General Motors or Chase Manhattan Bank going this route, but who knows? This may be the model for 21st-century business, and companies that don't learn it could be doomed to the tar pits of commercial history. --Lou Schuler

Book Description

A hotbed of activity for far-sighted thinkers and determined doers, the high technology industry has given rise to a pioneering group of entrepreneurs and executives which is not only behind today's most innovative technological advances, but at the forefront of a dynamic new movement in business. Armed with groundbreaking management philosophies and practices, the members of this visionary group are changing the way corporate structures are modeled and altering conventional conceptions of how companies should be run. Having helped their own organizations survive and thrive in a highly competitive, pressure-filled arena, they offer invaluable lessons for executives and managers in all industries. Now, in Silicon Gold Rush, their inspirational stories are told and their strategies for success revealed.

Written by Karen Southwick, editor of Upside Magazine's book division, this enlightening behind-the-scenes account spans the gamut of emerging technology management styles, from proven successes such as Cisco Systems to new kids on the block like Crossworlds Software. Providing valuable insights into a myriad of key issues, from nurturing creativity and motivating employees to finding new markets and weathering tough times, Silicon Gold Rush examines the modi operandi of the technology world's emerging stars and heavyweights.

The book reveals the maverick leadership techniques that are finding their way into mainstream corporate culture with far-reaching consequences. As Southwick points out: "Everywhere you look today, you will see older companies and those in traditional industries adopting the organizational structures, business strategies, and operational methods of the Silicon Valley gang. . . . [These] technology companies are changing more than the markets in which they operate, they are transforming the way America does business." Along with an overview of the high-tech environment, Silicon Gold Rush delivers in-depth coverage of the changing role of the high-tech CEO, the growing importance of the customer in the development and marketing processes of technology companies, the essentials of internal corporate organization, and the increasing frequency of mergers and alliances.

To illustrate the dynamics of the technology industry that make it so exciting and instructive to watch-the scramble for financing, the feverish move of product from design to delivery, the constant risk of failure-it tracks the progress of CrossWorlds Software Inc., a start-up venture headed up by Katrina Garnett, founder and chief executive. Delivering insider analysis of the thinking and motivations that drive today's cyber-Powerhouses, this eye-opening volume presents illuminating interviews with more than twenty trailblazing CEOs and senior executives, including Yahoo!'s Tim Koogle, 3Com's Eric Benhamous, PeopleSoft's Dave Duffield, Cisco's John Chambers, and Novell's Eric Schmidt.

A one-of-a-kind book that delves into the management ideas and strategies of high-tech leaders who are "rewriting the rules of business," Silicon Gold Rush is essential reading for anyone-in any industry-seeking the inside track on contemporary business transformations.

Customer Reviews:

Not relevant with all the hypes -- too general.......2004-01-04

Being a person working in SF bay area, I quickly learned that this book was among the inferiors of the book on the Valley.
The descriptions are too general -- the interviews were too shallow and no specific issues are presented in a clear-lighted manner.

Good selections for books on the Valley I think is "Accidental Empires" by Cringely.

A Couple Years Later, This Is Irrelevant.......2001-02-17

This is a somewhat entertaining read if you can get over the basic fact that the information is outdated. Almost all of the statistics are from 1998 and some of the companies cited as future stars never realized their potential. It was relevant in 1999 but quickly lost all significance in the dot-com meltdown of 2000 that is still continuing as I write this in 2001. Dot-coms now require a path to profitability and companies just don't engage in the same behaviors any more.

This books still has value for anyone wanting to know some historical background from the times of "irrational exhuberance" but the changes in business priorities that have taken place since this book was written have doomed it to irrelevance.

Insightful!.......2001-02-17

In light of the recent declines in tech stocks, you must give author Karen Southwick credit - for the most part she's profiled companies that are still around, although they've taken some hits. Southwick synthesizes her observations of Silicon Valley over the last decade or so. She takes a broad and sustained look at the practices of such companies as Ascend, Audodesk, Ciena, Cisco, Crossworlds, Net Noir, Open Market, Peoplesoft, Yahoo and others. Using an anecdotal, feature-story style, Southwick dissects these firms, covering CEOs' personal histories, corporate funding and corporate culture - down to dress code and wilderness team-building exercises. Some stories aren't new (insiders know Yahoo's culture is wacky) and there are some small inaccuracies (i.e. you could challenge Crossworlds CEO Katrina Garnett's argument that turnover is still a massive problem). Nonetheless, whether you're an insider or just an observer seeking an overview of Silicon Valley and its players, we at getAbstract.com recommend this accessible, reader-friendly compilation.

There are some valuable nuggets in this one.......2000-02-25

Definitely worth a look. Well laid out easy to read with summaries from some of today's leading thinkers.

OK Karen Southwick seems to be using her friends (just look at the back of High Noon to find the same names she cites as experts in this book).

She cites the success of companies such as Cisco, 3Com and PeopleSoft, HP,Intel and Yahoo! There is a lot to learn from these masters (even if it is nothing more than no-one has the whole answer) and Southwick takes us on a journey from start-up, through to marketing (mind she she calls it)and to prospecting. The graphs at the end of her book even show you profiles of the qualities CEOs need to have at various stages of their careers.

I like this book because it has great quotes, e.g. Differentiating your product from others is more important than having the better product, it covers a vast range of topics, it intergrates well with other material (e.g. the work of Geoffrey Moore) and it offers a number of warnings.

Well worth having a good look at

Let me catch my breath.......2000-02-20

There are enough self-proclaimed "management bestsellers," and this one is too effusive and devoid of original content, from the boxed pundit words of wisdom, to the "terrific" blurbs from the people glowingly spotlighted within. Southwick's myopia is perhaps best captured by her claim that "the Regis Touch" transformed Apple. Maybe it was too long ago to remember, but back then, having an actual product made a difference. The idea that things are now moving so fast that intellectual property doesn't matter any more is ludicrous.

The work seems primarily descriptive, rather than prescriptive, making it ironically backward-looking, and already dated.

Book Description

Explains arbitrage, hedging, and speculation from the standpoint of a participant in the foreign exchange market--whether an individual trader or an institutional trader--who possesses analytical skill, economically sound judgment, and who has access to market data. In the foreign exchange market, arbitrage involves the simultaneous purchase and sale of a currency in different markets; the profit comes from the difference in the buying and selling prices. Hedging and speculation are opposing strategies for dealing with risk; hedging is a cover, and speculation is an assumption of risk. Authors also discuss futures, swaps, forward contracts, and other strategies. For financial scholars, students, analysts, and currency traders.

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This manual shows readers how to propel themselves to a more satisfying professional life in and beyond the law.

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This book offers a coherent perspective on the transition to a market-based agri-food system in the Central and Eastern European Countries and the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union. It provides a formal analysis of the entire food chain from farm inputs to final consumers including imports and exports. Covering the major components of the agribusiness sector, food security, multinationals, commercial law, finance, building market institutions, and theoretical approaches to problems concerning prices, transactions costs, and bilateral monopoly, this book makes a highly original contribution to the literature on this topic and will be indispensable for agricultural and food economists.

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Geological, geoenvironmental, and resource studies were completed to study a world-class phosphate ore in the Western US Phosphate Field. This integrated, multi-agency, multidisciplinary research emphasized: (1) Geological and geochemical baseline characterization of the deposit and associated rocks, (2) Delineation, assessment, and spatial analysis of phosphate resources and lands disturbed by mining, (3) Contaminant residence, reaction pathways, and environmental fate associated with the occurrence, development, and use of phosphate rock, and (4) Depositional origin and evolution of the Phosphoria Formation and deposit and geoenvironmental modeling.

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Maupassant has been called a literary nihilist -- but (and this is the second trait of his singular genius) in him nihilism finds itself coexistent with an animal energy so fresh and so intense that for a long time it deceives the closest observer. In an eloquent discourse, pronounced over his premature grave, Emile Zola well defined this illusion: "We congratulated him," said he, "upon that health which seemed unbreakable, and justly credited him with the soundest constitution of our band, as well as with the clearest mind and the sanest reason. It was then that this frightful thunderbolt destroyed him."

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Every day, ordinary people like you start their own online businesses in their spare time, right out of their own homes. When you decide to start your own business, you make a decision to take charge of your financial future and begin the process of getting out of the rat race. This handy guide will cut to the chase and provide you the detailed formula for starting your own successful online enterprise. Discover how to take care of business licensing, accounting, marketing, fulfillment, and all the other tasks associated with running your business in this simple, straightforward guide and accompanying resources. If you like the idea of working on your own schedule from home to earn extra, place your order now for this guide to starting your business.

Earn Extra Money In Your Spare Time Selling Magazine Files On-line

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Earn Extra Money In Your Spare Time Selling Magazine Files On-line
Jassen Bowman and James Orr
Manufacturer: LearnToBeRich.com, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Investing | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Product Description

Modern technology, including the Internet, has leveled the playing field for small business owners, and now you can get into the action. While you won't get rich quick with an online business, you can generate a nice side income that will help pay bills or increase your standard of living, and do it from the comfort of your own home, on your own hours. You can generate a decent monthly side income selling items online in your spare time, and this CD and accompanying resources will show you how, step by step. Not only will this CD show you how to profitably launch your own online business, but we provide you with access to a members only, password protected web site with a slew of supporting resources to guide you along. If you like the idea of working on your own schedule from home to earn extra, place your order now for this guide to starting your business.

The Expanding World (1500 to 1900) (Time Lines on File)

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The Expanding World (1500 to 1900) (Time Lines on File)

Manufacturer: Facts on File
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Ring-bound

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ASIN: 0816063699

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Nations and States (Time Lines on File)

Manufacturer: Facts on File
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Binding: Ring-bound

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General | World | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0816063710

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Time Lines on File
Gerald Fischer
Manufacturer: Facts on File
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Ring-bound

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Civilization & Culture | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0816018979

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Using Time Line
Stephen L. Nelson
Manufacturer: Que
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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PMP Exam | Project Management | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

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General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Project Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0880226021

Crumbling cookies: how are you capturing electronic information?(ONLINE)(significance of cookie files in online data capturing): An article from: The Non-profit Times

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Crumbling cookies: how are you capturing electronic information?(ONLINE)(significance of cookie files in online data capturing): An article from: The Non-profit Times
Marla E. Nobles
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Non-profit Times, published by Thomson Gale on April 15, 2007. The length of the article is 1676 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Crumbling cookies: how are you capturing electronic information?(ONLINE)(significance of cookie files in online data capturing)
Author: Marla E. Nobles
Publication: The Non-profit Times (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 15, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 21 Issue: 8 Page: 12(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Software Pursuits: disk-to-disk Archiving for real-time, tapeless backup of data.(in SureSync line): An article from: EDP Weekly's IT Monitor

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Software Pursuits: disk-to-disk Archiving for real-time, tapeless backup of data.(in SureSync line): An article from: EDP Weekly's IT Monitor

Manufacturer: Millin Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008FODWI
Release Date: 2005-07-30

Book Description

This digital document is an article from EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on November 4, 2002. The length of the article is 554 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Software Pursuits: disk-to-disk Archiving for real-time, tapeless backup of data.(in SureSync line)
Publication: EDP Weekly's IT Monitor (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 4, 2002
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 43 Issue: 43 Page: 8

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Customer Reviews:

This is the best book in the series .......2005-01-19

If you only read one volume of this five volume set, volume IV is the book I would recommend. The History of Private Life, vols. I-V, is concerned with the project of demonstrating private life in the west (read: France) from its Roman origins to the present day.

Volume IV concerns itself with the 19th century. The 19th century, with the emergence of industrialization, democratic feeling and the bourgeois, is where modernity begins. It should come as no surprise that the 19th century is also where the modern conception of "private life" began as well. After reading volume IV, I was left wondering whether this set of five books might have read better as a set of three books: Volume one would contain Roman life, the middle ages and the renaissance/early modern period, volume two would be this book and volume three would be the twentieth century.

Not to say that I found vol's I-III irrelevant. However, those volumes were more concerned with antecedents of "private" life and it is only in this volume that "private" life takes center stage.

I noticed a shift in the style of writing in this volume. Whereas the previous three volumes were straight forward with only occasional prose that lurched into the familiar (and oft incomprehensible) style of the "theorists of social control"(Foucalt, etc). This volume sometimes descends into the circular logic and incomprehensible theory of that school.

None the less, this is the one book of the five that I would most recommend.

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Relive Your Childhood...

A wonderful reference for a webmaster who fields questions!

Creating Space: The Story of the Space Age Through Models: Apogee Books Space Series 24 (Apogee Books Space Series)
Mat Irvine
Manufacturer: Collector's Guide Publishing Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1896522866

Book Description

Gives a complete chronicle of space vehicles developed worldwide, side by side with pictures and details of models.

Customer Reviews:

Relive Your Childhood..........2006-08-11

If you were a male child growing up in the 1950s or `60s, the chances are very good that you will remember many of the models that author Mat Irvine describes in this fine volume covering an obscure aspect of spaceflight history.

"Creating Space" consists of two parts of approximately equal length. The first half is full of nostalgia, at least for me. Logically organized into 12 chapters covering, for example, "Early Dreams," "Rocket Planes and the V-Weapons" and "The Visions of Wernher and Willy," the first 200 pages include exquisite glossy color photos of assembled models and, stirring even more pleasant memories, their boxtop art. All of the models I built as a kid growing up just down the Florida coast from Cape Canaveral are covered in detail here: Strombecker's RM-1 Lunar Rocket Ship, Revell's XSL-01 Manned Space Ship, Lindberg's Lunar Lander, Monogram's Space Taxi and Passenger Rocket (designed by Willy Ley) and Hawk's Convair Atlas Space Station. The early rockets and guided missile kits are well represented also. Remember Revell's X-17 Research Rocket and Aerobee-Hi (with its exquisite set of decals), Adams' Honest John "Atomic Rocket" and Renwal's Terracruzer with Mace Missile? They're all here, along with hundreds of others. Closer to today, there are chapters devoted to current Space Shuttle, Mir and International Space Station kits, and a whimsical chapter covering U.F.O.s (such as the classic "Adamski Flying Saucer") and cinematic spacecraft such as those from "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Destination Moon." The quality of the photos is superb, and the extensive text describes the kits in great detail.

The second half of "Creating Space" is a tabular listing of virtually every spacecraft, rocket, missile and science fiction model kit ever made. Each entry includes a description of the kit, its scale, the manufacturer's reference number and the year it was first released. This is an excellent reference guide which appears to be both exhaustive and definitive. It is sure to be an invaluable resource for the collector or serious retro-hobbyist. There's also a useful dealer's reference, a list of other reference sources and some Internet links.

"Creating Space" is a unique and valuable book. I no longer have any of the space model kits that I built as a child. But I still got immense pleasure from reading Mr. Irvine's clear, thorough and detailed text, marveling at the crisp photos and re-living, for a moment at least, the joys of putting these kits together with tube cement that somehow always seemed to get smeared all over everything. If you're at all interested in the subject, buy this book. You won't be disappointed.

A wonderful reference for a webmaster who fields questions!.......2002-10-20

This book was a much anticipated addition to my library. As a webmaster of a Apollo website, I'm often asked questions about space models. This book has it all with great descriptions and color images of space model kits. The table of scales of each type available is very useful for collectors.

Customer Reviews:

the problem of over population and how to slove the problem.......1998-05-15

in 40 years we will have 12 billiion people and in 120 years 48 billion what about your grand kids ????....800 YEARS 1000 TRILLION there will be PEOPLE ENOUGH TO COVER THE WORLD!!!!!! LUTEN ASKES US ALL TO HAVE ONLY ONE KID PER COUPLE ......BRING THE WORLD POPULATION DOWN TO 500 MILLION AND THEN STAY THERE AS COUPLES COULD HAVE 2 KIDS FROM THEN ON ...... WE WOULD ALL BE RICH ; OR WE WILL HAVE NOT MUCH HOPE FOR OUR GRAND KIDS AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT JUST 40 YEARS AGO THE WORLD HAD 3 BILLION PEOPLE NOW 6 BILLION !!!!! TELL THE WORLD

!!!!!!!!! thank you

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