Rating: 
Summary: The Leap Inspired Me
Review: I loved the leap. Read this even if you have no interest in the internet, the new economy, business etc. The story is not about starting a business or how to make millions on the internet. It is about a regular guy's unchartered, frightening, exciting and emotional journey into a world he knew he had join. Tom Ashbrook's story is funny, romantic and crazy. Most of all it is inspiring. After reading it, I was compelled to evaluate my own life choices - we should all hope to be as courageous And driven as Ashbrook in our search to be challenged, motivated and successful.
Rating:
Summary: absolutely riveting!
Review: I read this in about two days...could barely put it down. I actually cried at a couple places late in the book, which is absolutely weird for a business book, but Ashbrook's tale is poignant, beautiful, and wonderful, as much a story of indefatigable spirit and the human appetite for risk and glory as it is a business case study. And this book worked on a different, more personal level for me, too. I've lived a teeny bit of "The Leap" myself -- my husband founded a small financial magazine with his childhood friend and eventually quit his job to make a go of it, doing the venture capital route, etc. He wound up selling the little company to an Internet company (in the process, he actually met with some of the same people who Ashbrook talks about), and got a tidy little sum as well as the satisfaction of seeing it live on online. I never knew quite what he was going through then, and admittedly I could have been more supportive, but now I think I know. Wonderful, wonderful book...not just for Internet fans or business book people, but for anyone.
Rating:
Summary: A Passionate Adventure Story
Review: I started this book at 8pm and finished at 4 the next morning. Could not put it down. An absolutely wonderful, compelling story and storyteller. Beautifully written. The Leap reads almost like poetry sometimes, then slams you into passages of incredibly gripping action. I opened it doubtful that the Internet startup setting would capture me, but the Internet world is only the beginning with this book. It is really about having the courage to grow and change. And to take risks even when it's not convenient. If you have ever thought about turning your life upside down for a fresh start, read this book. It's a challenging, passionate adventure story that will keep you thinking long after you've gulped it down. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Blown away
Review: I think I've read every book written about the Internet and the new economy, but this is something completely different. It's like a great novel. The characters and relationships are so real and passionate! And it's not just about making money. It's about finding meaning in life, and about never giving up on dreams and love. Somehow, The Leap reminds me of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, but it is so NOW. I am blown away. And my girlfriend loved it, too! This book is fantastic.
Rating: 
Summary: E-Commerce Hype
Review: I thought that this story has been already told from countless perspectives. The Author (a former journalist) joins an internet start-up created by an apparently miserable, full-of-himself CEO. The Author works with this monger and eventually gets him to succumb to a share of the company, based on his share of the efforts.Please .. the hype on this book is unwarranted. Who needs to hear about another e-commerce start-up. Lets read about a success story. The final chapter on this story hasn't been written. The company has not gone public and has not faced the real e-commerce world. Nice try Tom (Author) but save this story for your kids and grandchildren. When the final chapter has been written - release it for reading. Not today!
Rating: 
Summary: A great read about what kind of person can take this chance
Review: I wasn't expecting the kind of book this was. I thought it would be more like "The e-Boys," but it was a totally personal memoire, with sometimes too much information about his personal life. Though I have to say that his wife was a trooper. There are times when he is on the brink of not being able to pay any bills and putting the child care on the credit card, and you just wonder what is going to happen next. At the same time the business plan keeps changing from "Plans on How to Build Your Victorian Dream House" to something quite different. I loved the descriptions of the sabatical at Harvard, and I wish there was more information about that. The financial aspect of the book was unbelievable as the two business partners actually turned down venture capitalists while they were running out of money. What made the book great was the true story of how long it took to create the product, and the financial sacrifice involved. This part of the book just keeps you on the edge of your seat. It really was a fascinating book. I don't think I could have taken the Leap these guy did. Also, you can just visit the website (listed on the flap) and see how beautiful it is. Because I had just read "The e-Boys," I was thinking there might be that great wave of euphoria at the IPO. The book doesn't cover that. At the end, they were just "successful."
Rating:
Summary: A great read about what kind of person can take this chance
Review: I wasn't expecting the kind of book this was. I thought it would be more like "The e-Boys," but it was a totally personal memoire, with sometimes too much information about his personal life. Though I have to say that his wife was a trooper. There are times when he is on the brink of not being able to pay any bills and putting the child care on the credit card, and you just wonder what is going to happen next. At the same time the business plan keeps changing from "Plans on How to Build Your Victorian Dream House" to something quite different. I loved the descriptions of the sabatical at Harvard, and I wish there was more information about that. The financial aspect of the book was unbelievable as the two business partners actually turned down venture capitalists while they were running out of money. What made the book great was the true story of how long it took to create the product, and the financial sacrifice involved. This part of the book just keeps you on the edge of your seat. It really was a fascinating book. I don't think I could have taken the Leap these guy did. Also, you can just visit the website (listed on the flap) and see how beautiful it is. Because I had just read "The e-Boys," I was thinking there might be that great wave of euphoria at the IPO. The book doesn't cover that. At the end, they were just "successful."
Rating: 
Summary: OK, but not as good as Burn Rate
Review: If you are going to read one book on internet startups read "Burn Rate". This book was interesting in its own way - focusing more on the impact to one's family of doing an internet startup. But I found that story fairly predictable - of course you have to work hard and miss many hours away from home. I found myself wishing the author would get past deciding to commit himself to the venture and tell us more about mechanics of starting the company.
Rating:
Summary: Before You Decide to Leap....
Review: In an article which appeared in FSB magazine, Ashbrook explains "There is a game I call startup solitaire. It doesn't have a rule book. It just comes to you, late at night. It goes like this: You're alone in your bedroom with a tall stack of credit cards. You're slowly spreading them out on the bed, turning the cards over and over, checking them against your monthly statements, looking for a few more dollars to borrow." As he observes in the book, Ashbrook had dreams his life wasn't touching. He heard a clock ticking. He knew the world was changing in ways that obliterated his old assumptions. "Something huge was happening, something on a scale so large that I was lucky to see it even once in my lifetime. It was stirring economies and imaginations and possibilities like nothing I had ever known. And the more I looked at it, the more desperately I wanted to be a part of it." For those who are tempted to make a leap into High Risk/High Reward Entrepreneurship, this is "must reading" because the game to be played -- startup solitaire -- is not for the timid nor for the incompetent. Ashbrook enables his reader to accompany him each step up to his "leap", while he is airborne, and then....The book's subtitle correctly suggests that this is "a memoir of love and madness in the internet gold rush." Like so many others, Ashbrook was caught up in what was the apparently irresistible "fever" of it. What happened to him, to his family members, his friends, and his business associates? What did he learn from his experiences? It's all here, waiting for you to share it...albeit vicariously and perhaps from a position of relative security.
Rating:
Summary: His Prose Flow Like Sweet Honey!
Review: It's not about success. It's not about arriving. It is simply about the journey--and a sweet one at that. A perfect read for this Saturday night.
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