Fools Rush In Book Review

I really enjoyed reading Fools Rush In, Nina Munk‘s research on the gargantuan AOL – Time Warner fiasco of the late 90’s and early 2000s. There is no better way, I think for a person to understand the Internet Bubble and dot com disaster of that era than reading a book that puts you right into the action of that crazy time, when the world was upside down and companies with little income can be valued more than a company that can honestly turn in profits, when companies that have taken decades to establish themselves can be upended by one that contains only promises.

I was starting out in my career at that time and followed these events and many others like a hawk. I remember clearly making a shift in my own career, deciding to learn everything I can about the Internet and consequently find a way to live off of it, rather than the more traditional alternatives, which was to work at say, Oracle or Microsoft (still in the same more or less industry but in way different directions).

But I remember very clearly how I couldn’t understand for the life of me, how businesses which did not issue a clear and straightforward way to make money (other than ads), could be valued so highly by the public, and ask for (and get) so many millions if not billions of venture capital funding and via public IPOs.

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