Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating account of one of the few successful dotcoms
Review: When Adam Cohen set out to chronicle of eBay, he probably did not realize that it would ultimately leave so many other dotcom businesses in its wake. This book is a thoroughly enjoyable account of all the quirky characters who built eBay into an empire, as well as a company that survived the dot-com bust. From the community of people who buy and sell on eBay -- and sometimes wind up getting married in the process -- to the site's enigmatic founder Pierre Obidymar, Cohen's book presents the story of a business that is not just successful but has upset all the traditional business models, became a highly fun place to work -- and extremely interesting to read about. I'd also recommend Andrea Orr's Meeting, Mating and Cheating --- for another fascinating account of a thriving Internet business. This book is about the Internet dating industry and how it has profited from loneliness and infidelity. Another fascinating read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, brought back good memories
Review: I remember when eBay was called AuctionWeb, and the first auctions that occured on the site. Reading this book made me remember so many other details about the company and about that "pre-boom/bust" era in general. Adam Cohen weaves an interesting tale, switching back and forth in mid-chapter between short stories about users and the eBay community and the company itself. Perhaps the most fascinating insight the book provided was how seriously eBay takes the message boards and chat rooms they offer their users. It seems to me that so few eBay users actually use these services (I certainly don't), so the tension that this "community" feels when eBay changes policies may not accurately reflect the actual tension felt by all of eBay's paying sellers. Insightful and entertaining, this quick read will bring back memories and offer an excellent insight of the launch and development of (maybe the greatest) internet company.
Rating:
Summary: An epic journey from a dream to reality
Review: Upon finishing this book I was amazed at the detail Adam Cohen presented to readers about the real inside of eBay. The book travels through time playing on various aspects of the company and reasons to why it became and still is one of the world's most admired and successful companies. Sure, eBay has changed the marketplace as we know it and sure it has affected many lives. But the key element in this story is that one guy's vision of a community, free from obstructing walls, became a reality - something many .com companies failed to achieve. A wonderful read...highly recommended for all!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, brought back good memories
Review: I remember when eBay was called AuctionWeb, and the first auctions that occured on the site. Reading this book made me remember so many other details about the company and about that "pre-boom/bust" era in general. Adam Cohen weaves an interesting tale, switching back and forth in mid-chapter between short stories about users and the eBay community and the company itself. Perhaps the most fascinating insight the book provided was how seriously eBay takes the message boards and chat rooms they offer their users. It seems to me that so few eBay users actually use these services (I certainly don't), so the tension that this "community" feels when eBay changes policies may not accurately reflect the actual tension felt by all of eBay's paying sellers. Insightful and entertaining, this quick read will bring back memories and offer an excellent insight of the launch and development of (maybe the greatest) internet company.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly fascinating
Review: As a frequent user of eBay, I always wondered little things like how the site came to be and why is it called eBay... This book answers those questions. While reading this I was fascinated about how eBay has influenced so many things outside of the internet. The book details the humble beginnings of eBay by one person and his ideals. Along the way it shares stories about the sometimes quirky personalities that have helped make eBay the powerhouse that it is today. It also chronicles the whole dot com era and mentions other players such as Amazon and Yahoo. The book is surprisingly interesting. I don't usually read "business" books but this one I finished in 2 days. I would highly recommend this if you are interested in eBay, the internet, or the internet's influence on everyday life.
Rating:
Summary: eBay levels the field allowing free and open trade
Review: One of best books I've read this year. eBay levels the field allowing free and open trade. Cohen should be praised for his outstanding writing capability. You feel the energy of Pierre Omidyar success story as Cohen describes the breakthrough idea of a network of ordinary people collaborating to exchange goods, such that, supply and demand immediately adjusted to the correct price. 1994, Omidyar involvement with eShop made him an instanteous millionare before thirty. Omidyar viewed auctions as "interesting market mechanisms" which produced fair and correct prices. Omidyar said, "if there's more than one person intererested let them fight it out...the seller would by definition get the market price for the item, whatever that might be on a particular day." Omidyar brillance started as he concluded that "most people are honest". From this basic assumption Omidyar built a culture called eBaysian. eBaysian community was grassroot people, who had passions about specific material domains of knowledge and commodities. Message boards, mediators, and rating systems created an unique and safe culture within eBay convincing buyers and sellers to trade. Negative ratings would produce a strong inhibition to trade than a positive rating to encourage a buy. Omidyar vision of people seemed to be correct indicated by the low number of fraud cases. Cohen builds up the story of eBay going public with the selection of a financial officer, Whiteman as the new brilliant CEO, and the surprise that IPO stock prices who jump from $18 to $57 on the first day. Join the soul train as the eBayisians danced around the office. Culturally, it was unpolite to discuss options because upper management thought the fear of depression could strike should the eBay stock take a sudden drop. Skoll, Omidyar, and Whiteman would become billionares within years of the IPO deal. eBay was not without it trials: A few sensational cases occurred, such as, the 15k watch scandal; numerous tolerated crashs and a big crash which helped them realize reduntancy was need and personal changes required to build a fail safe system. Bulletin boards would facilitate the free exchange of ideas and some of the conversation would become heated. Message board regulators kept tempers from getting out of control. eBay would ban certain products: tobacco, alcohol, and guns.
Economics of selling on eBay would remain appealing. Inventory Procurement Services would realize 50 eBay profit margins selling leather jackets. Waites said, "They've always made clear to me that eBay is a level playing field. If I want unique things I don't even ask, because I know we're not going to get them." For example, Stahls promised the community of San Pedro La Laguna she would help stating, "I was watching people who were quitting their jobs to sell on eBay fulltime, I started thinking, if these people can do it, why can't the Mayan people in Guatemala who have all those great crafts do the same thing." Stahl cut out the middle man called the "coyotes", setup computers and laptops, techs to setup a wireless celluar hookup allowing satelite internet feed, and started the trading process. Stahl became half time eBay charity coordinator. The potential existed to create new homes, healthcare, nutrition, jobs, schools for the people of Bethel. eBay brought the Mayian community selling craftsmanships directly into the world economy. "To help the craftsman in the short-term,Whitman decided on the spot that the company holiday gifts that year would be Mayan belts with the eBay insignia, and placed an order for nearly three thousand." I would like one of those belts.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun, informative and easy to read
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I learned a lot about start-ups from inception to the IPO. Some have claimed this was a PR piece for ebay - but it seemed like an even handed effort to me. I don't why a book has be a muckraker (sp) for some to enjoy it. A great read.
Rating:
Summary: The real deal
Review: I found the book extremely helpful in providing insights into what really makes eBay work. Community, feedback, trusted third-party, and a business that believes in the inherent good of its members.
Rating: 
Summary: A passion for eBay
Review: As an eBay user since 1997, both as buyer and seller, I found this book curiously bland and totally lacking in passion for a subject of which the users are quite passionate. Frankly, I was bored to death while reading it, waiting and waiting for one of the stories to show some excitement and it never did. Forget the book, just go to eBay community instead.
Rating:
Summary: Informative insider look at a bumbling company
Review: Well, maybe not so perfect. The book itself is fine. What's not so perfect is all the bungling from Ebay's lauded executive team. Particularly by Meg Whitman, the CEO. This book describes the history of Ebay with surprising detail. The author had access to many people involved in that history, including the executives, and it shows. In fact, he was given access to Ebay's premises as kind of their official biographer. These accounts could only come from insiders. It shocks me that Whitman would allow her bungling to come out like this. I would assume she doesn't think she's bungling. Cohen has a lively and descriptive writing style. Hard to do with a book about corporate business, but he pulls it off nicely. In fact, there where many times I couldn't put it down. If you want to read the book to figure out why Ebay is so successful I think you may be disappointed. Except for Pierre Omidyar's vision for creating the thing in the first place ... and by the way, the story of him creating it so his girlfriend would have a market for her Pez collection was a fib created by Ebay's promotional person ... what drove the success of Ebay was its community. Every time Ebay's executives bungled, the community stepped in and raised holy heck. Whitman and her staff make poor decision after poor decision yet thanks to the community's outrage Ebay reconsiders and is usually guided onto the right path eventually. And when they're not bungling externally they're bungling internally. Remember that almost 2-day outage in '97? No backups or mirror system! They almost couldn't recover their data and might have had to start over again. Except for Omidyar, who dropped out of the everyday running of Ebay early on, the other executives seemed to be almost amatuerish in their lack of vision and planning. But it did make for an interesting story. The same way that a out-of-control fire is more interesting to watch than a well-oiled machine. I thought Ebay might not have stumbled into their success. I was wrong. The adage about first to market truly made the difference here. This book covers the whole sordid mess surprisingly well.
|
