Best Books About Tech Startups and Their Origin Stories
The topic of this post, my favorite books on tech startups and their origin stories, has almost nothing to do with the main topic of this blog: traveling. Well, I actually have one Airbnb-related book on the list. But it is as close as it gets.
Recently, I have developed some unusual reading habits. I have been reading more non-fiction books, with some occasional fiction reading in between. A habit that I would rather get rid of.
I think it all started with “And the Band Plays On,” one of the most comprehensive books written about the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. It felt like an ideal read during the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic. There were many similarities in terms of misconceptions and our human tendency to downplay a scary health crisis. It was an excellent read, and I would highly recommend it.
But if you are looking for some easy, gossipy, and shocking reads that concern one of the most controversial cultural and economic phenomena of our decade, look no further than books on tech start-ups. These are some of my favorite books that I read during my non-fiction frenzy, which will introduce you to the people and the stories behind Twitter, Airbnb, Uber, WeWork (what a story!), Facebook, Instagram, and even Snapchat – an app I have never used, but seems to be a big hit among the younger audience. I can vouch for all these books as ideal beach/summer reads.
Favorite books on the origin stories of tech Start-ups
The list starts with my absolute favorite in terms of drama – no other than Twitter – and ends with the one that changed it all and ended up (deservedly) being the least liked one – Facebook.
Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal
After reading this highly entertaining book, one thing is guaranteed. You will never see the self-declared guru-type CEO, Jack Dorsey, the same way that you did before, after reading Nick Bilton’s “Hatching Twitter.” What a drama – though it is still nothing compared to the recent drama triggered by the world’s most controversial, narcissistic, and richest man, Elon Musk, which eventually escalated to a litigation stage and resulted in Musk’s acquisition of the company, then turning it into X.
Hatching Twitter was easily one of the most shocking reads, outlining the modest origin story of Twitter, which, as soon as its success came, turned into a disturbing tale of a series of betrayals.
The book begins with the early days of the group that eventually founded Twitter, when they were experimenting with the idea of a podcast (it was perhaps too early back then, in the mid-2000s). Their focus later turned into a texting app, which eventually became Twitter.
Once Twitter is launched, the book guides us through the milestone events that led to the application’s ultimate success, before delving into boardroom battles, backstabbing, and frequent CEO changes.
It is a compelling book that can be read in almost one sitting. I am currently reading “Battle for the Bird” by Kurt Wagner, which covers the Musk drama. I will report it here when I finish it.
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
This relatively recent book by Sarah Wynn-Williams is, foremost, an excellent and effortless read. She gives us access to the inner workings of Meta/Facebook in a way that we never had before. Gossip aside, she writes about the terrifying policies of Meta and its ability to control the spread of information, as well as its extremely uncautious approach towards its own power, and how it shapes the world we live in today.
While I think the author could be less sugar coating about why she chose to stay in Meta despite all her concerns, this is easily the best book on this list, along with Susan Fowler`s UBER book, in terms of the richness of the inside information about the companies covered.
No Filter: the Inside Story of Instagram
The book tells the origin story of Instagram, which actually started with an app called Bourbon, which was closer to Foursquare than it was to Instagram.
Sarah Frier’s story covers the origin story of Instagram and its exciting sale stage to Facebook, as well as the eventual fallout between the original founders, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, and Mark Zuckerberg.
It is a story of persistence. The book also includes an interesting chapter addressing the question of whether the founders shared part of the then almost record-breaking sale fee paid by Facebook—USD 1 billion. The author first creates suspense around the question but rewards the readers with a definitive answer.
That Will Never Work: the Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea
Written by one of the co-founders of Netflix, Marc Randolph, the story of Netflix is mostly drama-free when it comes to founder relations. However, the evolution of the product and the crisis that the company went through (some of which were skillfully turned into very creative marketing opportunities) is as interesting as the human drama.
While the book does not cover the stage when Netflix transitioned into a streaming platform, I still found this book to be an excellent read and saluted the determination of the founders who started with the idea of selling shampoo and ultimately ended up with Netflix.
Randolph`s book also offers a great insight into how, at first, seemingly irrelevant technological development may have a make-or-break effect on another product.
This was a good read involving less drama compared to the other reads in the list. I also really enjoyed the book’s focus on the extreme challenges the company faced in its early years. There are also many stories involving the events that took place at Airbnb apartments and how the company tried to deal with the fallout.
The Airbnb Story: world peace?
For many, Airbnb is probably one of the most liked tech startups of recent decades. This is likely mainly due to the impact the company has on how we perform one of our favorite acts – traveling – as well as the founder’s ability to minimize drama and avoid stealing headlines (unlike the Uber founder, Travis Kalanick).
As you may have already noticed, I am not the greatest fan of Airbnb. However, I will happily read any book that I can get my hands on about the origin story of a company that likely changed the travel industry forever (and yes, it all started with the airbed idea, which was sparked by a conference in San Francisco that led to a hotel room shortage in the city).
The book, however, suffers from a typical issue often observed in tech-related books. I could do without reading the sections that highlight the same old god complex of the tech startup founders. As you may have guessed, I am not entirely convinced that the Airbnb founders’ entire motivation is to lead society to lasting world peace.
Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral
Traffic, by journalist Ben Smith, tells the story of the rise and eventual fall of digital media, with a focus on the founders of BuzzFeed, Gawker, and HuffPost. I wouldn’t say that this was the most entertaining read on this list, but it was certainly one of the most informative.
Ben Smith takes the reader through the development of the concept of clickbait, its impact on the news, and the role of social media companies, primarily Facebook, in both the rise and fall of once billion-dollar digital media companies.
The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Start-up Delusion
Speaking of the God Complex and tech start-up founders, I must mention this remarkable book about a founder who genuinely believes he is God. I am not sure if tech start-up founders’ stories get any worse than the married duo behind the most scandalous rise and fall stories of recent years, supported by a Japanese billionaire – Adam Neumann and Rebecca Neumann of WeWork.
The book does a great job explaining how the couple could play the FOMA card and easily fool a supposedly very sophisticated venture capital industry. It also shows that while the main party to blame is the leading founder, Adam Neumann, the entire ecosystem of venture capital is also nearly as culpable for the role it played in the tragedy (for many company employees) by shamelessly enabling Adam Neumann’s behavior.
How to Turn Down a Million Dollars: The Snapchat Story
I have never used Snapchat and only opened an account after I read this book (but never used it). The story of Evan Spiegel starts in San Francisco at Stanford, but it is actually a Los Angeles story – the city that hosts the company’s headquarters.
It is difficult to feel sympathy for Evan Spiegel as the book also focuses on his past expulsive and unacceptable fraternity day behavior. However, the product innovation pace – something the company is often praised for – and Spiegel’s firm resistance against Mark Zuckerberg’s condescending purchase offers really added a different flavor to this book compared to the others on the list. It also gave me a fascinating insight into the thinking and social media behavior of a much younger generation.
The book will likely interest you if you are curious about the ideas that led to some of the most popular social media platforms of today, even if, like me, you have never used some of those apps.
Whistleblower: My Journey to Silicon Valley and Fight for Justice at Uber
This is another Uber-related book, which offers a highly personal and very moving account of Uber`s by now highly infamous company culture. The story of Susan Fowler is a must-read for anyone to not only understand the reasons behind the ousting of former CEO Travis Kalanick but also the larger issues triggered by the bro dominated Silicon Valley culture.
While the focus of the book is Fowler’s time at Uber, her background story, skillfully told, adds a whole other dimension to what happened at Uber. I wish we had more books about tech startups written by women writers and insiders.
Super Pump: Battle for Uber
Sorry, as it is now the third Uber-related book on the list, what a drama-inducing company! Also turned into an Apple TV Series, the book by Mike Isaac portrays the aggressive strategies followed by Uber first to create and then grow its market share.
It is one of the best books on the list in terms of its focus on the growth strategy followed by tech start-ups, which involve unsustainable amounts of cash burning that worsen when the competition begins. Obviously, unlike social media companies, the network effect plays almost no role for utility-focused start-ups, and things get substantially more difficult once a pretty good competitor soon appears in this newly created/disturbed market. The book could be confidently titled ‘The Battle between Lyft and Uber.’
Travis Kalanick, the ousted former CEO and co-founder of Uber, is the main character in the book. I read this book before the Apple TV Show and the recent story of the Guardian, the Uber Papers, based on the confessions of a whistleblower. So, it was a shocking read for me, but most of the story is already out there now.
Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World
The book by David Kirkpatrick, published in 2010, about the most successful start-ups of all time, almost reads like a love letter to Mark Zuckerberg. It was written before the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal and before Facebook was seen as the source of all evil in the world. The author also had almost unlimited access to Mark Zuckerberg, access which was likely granted on the basis of a “mutual understanding” about the tone of the book.
If one can disregard all we know about Facebook by now in 2022 and the cost of their mission to connect the world, it is a good read outlining in a very detailed manner how Facebook stood out among the similar ventures of the same era – MySpace, Friendster, among others.
These are just some of my favorite books on the origin stories of start-ups. I will regularly update this post, and if you have any recommendations for me to read and add to the list, I would be happy to hear them.
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