Book description
Now in paperback, the honest, insightful and humorous memoir from
one of the original dragons - Tom Perkins who gave his name to one of
Silicon Valley's most iconic partnerships, Kleiner Perkins Caufield
& Byers who helped found and finance such famous companies as
Tandem, Compaq, Netscape, Sun Microsystems, Amazon and Google:
described by "The Economist" as one of 'American venture
capital's founding fathers. This book is full of accounts of the
diverse episodes of his life, both personal and professional: his
marriage to romance novelist Danielle Steel; his famous vintage car
collection; being tried for manslaughter in France and his
sensational, high tech 130ft yacht The Maltese Falcon - one of the
largest privately owned clippers in the world and the subject of its
own book!Known for his idiosyncratic ideas and Midas touch, Tom
Perkins, described by "Newsweek" as 'a titan of American
business', is one of the business world's most intriguing figures. In
"Valley Boy" he presents 'The truth as I see it,
unvarnished, and as beautiful or ugly as you may find it' and offers a
fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at one of the most exciting and
dynamic periods of technological and corporate development, revealing
his involvement in the creation of American industries no one could
have dreamed of a century ago.
A"Tom Perkins is a man of extraordinary passions, among them
deals, venture capital, entrepreneurs, ocean racing, vintage cars, and
extraordinary women. Valley Boy is a heady mix of picaresque adventure
and high finance - more fun than most novels - told in a charming,
intimate style as if you were a privileged guest on one of Tom's
legendary yachts. A" James Stewart, author of the bestselling Den
of ThievesA"Perkins's account of the egos and tensions at play in
the HP boardroom in early 2006 makes for an entertaining read. He writes
with boyish enthusiasm and self-deprecating humour about his love of
fast cars; his quest to build the Maltese Falcon, the world's most
advanced sailing yacht; his fleeting marriage to Danielle Steele, the
romantic novelist; his conviction for manslaughter in France after a
disastrous yachting accident; and his own novel-writing project Sex and
the Single Zillionaire."The Financial Times, 3 December 2007.
Some say that Perkins invented venture capital, funding numerous
start-ups in the burgeoning computer industry back in the 1960s. Perkins
is a partner in the San Francisco firm that bears his name, Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers.
