If you want to understand the dot com boom at the end of the 1990s, then you have to understand Venture Capitalists (VC’s). VC’s are the guys who listen to several business pitches a day (think Dragon’s Den but with much bigger sums). They’re looking for the next Google, Ebay or Yahoo. Randall Stross, a professor of business at San Jose State University, was the writer in residence at Benchmark Capital during this time period, his book eBoys tells the story of how a group of not-quite-middle-aged men came to make an a number of investments that created a Silicon Valley record 100,000 per cent return on investment.

Stross skillfully weaves the personal histories of the Benchmark partners in with the stories of Benchmark’s portfolio companies such as Priceline, Ebay and Webvan. Anyone interested in how venture capital funding works should find something of interest in eBoys. That said the organisational structure and corporate culture of Benchmark is by their own design contrary to that of to many other VC’s.

You’ll also learn the histories and personalities of Benchmark’s partners and be given an insight into the world of Internet start-ups circa late 1990s. It’s an exciting read and it made venture capital sound like a fun business for someone like me (with too many ideas and wanting to see them all implemented) to be in.

You can buy it from Amazon UK or Amazon USA.

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