Fastlane The Internet Boom, Silicon Valley Start-Ups, and the Venture Capital Mindset

Take a first hand, first person ride through the early days of Internet history. Scout for new companies and ideas that could build fame and fortune, or disappear just as fast. Learn alongside entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, business managers, and investors - all guessing where this new connectivity would lead. Chandler shows us the personal beyond the professional as he faces off with VCs at investment conferences, CEOs in private, and board-members in conference rooms. Test your own skill at negotiating compensation as others become overnight millionaires, elated at their paper fortunes yet anxious that this dream world might vanish at the morning's opening bell. Experience the cultural rift as a risk-oriented American gaijin in Silicon Valley struggles to convince his conservative Japanese superiors to invest. Be there when the untested, uncertain world of the emerging Internet launches the biggest economic and social transformation of our lifetime. "Jim has written a masterful account of the inner workings of the venture capital community. Quite engaging and an accurate reflection of our life and times in the venture community. He shares the intimate details that make this book a must read!" - Norm Fogelsong, Managing Director, Institutional Venture Partners "Fastlane tells a tale of the beginning of a disruptive innovation that is still shaking the foundations of business and our everyday lives. Powerful, personal, and poignant. This is the inside story of a revolution." - Jerome S. Engel, U.C. Berkeley, Faculty Director, Venture Capital Executive Program "I loved the book, a deeply personal and individual view into the internet explosion of the late 1990's, from a unique perspective." - David Carlick, Partner, Vantage Point Venture Partners, Rho Ventures; Chairman & Partner, Adventure Capital Venture Management; Co-founder, Double-Click; VP Poppe-Tyson; Independent Director, various. "I must say, you write the way you speak: thoughtful, curious about the big picture, just a bit Bohemian, and spiced with entrepreneurial zest. It is an appealing and unusual combination." Frank Thibodeau, Venture Partner, Artiman Ventures; CEO, Worldpages; Director of Research and Venture Dept., Itochu Technology Inc.