Rating: 
Summary: A must-read for anyone with an Internet business plan
Review: Read the jacket copy of most any tell-all business book and you'll see the publisher claim that the author pulls no punches. Charles Ferguson is the real deal. You've probably never read a book that so plainly lays out the author's opinions, feelings, failures, and triumphs while recounting a company's history.Ferguson founded Vermeer Technologies, which developed the FrontPage Web authoring / editing environment in 1994 and 1995 and was acquired by Microsoft early in 1996. Microsoft FrontPage is now used by 3 million people around the world. The eight chapters in which Ferguson describes the 22 months of Vermeer's independent existence are riveting reading for anyone who lived through the birth of the commercial Internet. Ferguson gives his startlingly frank opinions on everyone involved: Vermeer's venture capitalists, the near-disaster of a CEO they hired, the Netscape and Microsoft players with whom Ferguson negotiated for Vermeer's purchase. He's a hard grader and as tough on himself as on others. I think that none of the things he says quite rises to the level of the libelous; but some of them will make you wonder. Everyone with an Internet business plan should read this first-time entrepreneur's look back, especially for its eye-opening account of his dealings with venture capitalists. Read it before you get your money. The book will probably depress you; but Ferguson's hard-won lessons might just possibly save your bacon. I found the early part of the book somewhat confusing because Ferguson talks about the business and venture-capital climate in Silicon Valley. Vermeer was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts and its first investors were easterners. I assume the publisher chose to downplay this geographical undesirability in order to bask in the magic glow of the words ''Silicon Valley.'' And of course by the time Vermeer went seeking a second round of VC funding, many of the players involved were in the west. (I'll also give the author the benefit of the doubt and assume it was the publisher's choice to replace an ''a'' on the cover with an ''@'' -- lest the reader fail to apprehend that this is an Internet book.) Ferguson, in concert with his early employees, saw very clearly the way the Internet and the competitive environment would grow. Of course he could be padding with hindsight the nature of his early strategic insight; but he ended up convincing me otherwise. For this reason I plowed through the book's final three chapters, in which he imparts his views the self-immolation of Netscape, the Microsoft problem, and the (in his opinion) vastly more worrisome problem of the incumbent telecomm companies. In my mind he had earned the right to have his opinions attended to. I asked a former colleague who was close to the events at Vermeer to comment on the accuracy of the historical picture Ferguson paints. The reply: ''He accurately conveys what it was like to go through the Vermeer experience. I don't agree with everything he says, but I know he believes everything he says, and says everything he believes. He doesn't pull any punches.''
Rating: 
Summary: "I never, ever, thought my idea of an interesting evening...
Review: The entire quote is, "I never, ever, thought that my idea of an interesting evening in bed with my girlfriend would be watching a video of Bill Gates. I doubt that it will ever happen again". This book is a treasure on many levels. Mr Ferguson is extremely bright, PHDS' are not given away at MIT, he has a wide range of experience from consulting at the Federal level, to being the founder of Vermeer (Now Frontpage) which is the dominant web authoring software on the planet. Unlike all the other, "My Days In The Valley Book", this is a book of great merit. It is well written, reads like a novel and the Author is never misunderstood. It's black it'a white it's nothing in between. He appraises people bluntly whether positive or negative, and he has one wickedly sharp sense of humor. Definition of a Venture Capitalist; "a heavyset guy who wears badly fitting suits..has no discernable personality, sense of humor, or compassion-ideal traits for a venture capitalist". I am involved in a start up, and this book offers more valuable insight than I have read, been told, or advised, as to what to do, and what not to do. He shares the victories, and he shares his mistakes no matter how bad they were. If you are in any business that is going to involve outside investors, Venture Capitalists, will require a "Professional CEO", or any of another 100 or so issues this book should go with you to every meeting. If we ever make it to IPO, or acquisition, he's getting stock as a thank you. This book is that good. If you are in business or are wondering if a start up is for you, pass this book of at your peril. Mr. Ferguson, my sincere thanks.
Rating: 
Summary: book starts really well, then quickly gets annoying
Review: The part about raising capital is excellent (actually, I remembered reading a very similar article in Fast Company a year or two ago). What I didn't like was the constant bashing of Netscape, and Vermeer's CEO throughout the book. There's also a certain double standard mentality: the author accuses the CEO of trying to negotiate an unfairly good personal deal, yet later in the book demands a cash severance payment for himself; talks about how immoral the CEO was for suggesting sending engineers to competitors to interview hoping to learn about their technologies, yet later in the book admits that obtaining Microsoft's beta code through 'a friend' was Ok under the circumstances. In a nutshell, this book about being in the right place at the right time.
Rating:
Summary: Great summary of the Internet Industry - today and tomorrow
Review: This is a thoughtful, comprehensive, and brutally frank treatise on everything to do with the Internet industry and the coming Internet economy. I have been involved with these subjects myself for more than 10 years, yet I learned something new with almost every page I read. From his backgrounder on the origins and evolution of the Internet itself, to the process of founding, funding, nurturing, and finally selling a software company, everything that Mr. Ferguson writes rings true. He brings a wealth of specific knowledge to his subject, and places it the broader context of Microsoft's monopoly control of the software industry today, Justice Department investigations, and the other major players in this game. I gained a personal appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of both Netscape Communications and Microsoft during the reading of the book. I have to admit it changed my impressions of both companies. In the final chapters of the book, Mr. Ferguson summarizes some of the important issues that will continue to require attention as the Internet hype of today turns into the Internet economy of tomorrow. Obviously an experienced writer and analyst, Mr. Ferguson has also allowed his own, often volatile personality to emerge throughout this book. I think that is important, as it breathes life and adds fire to what otherwise might be a fairly dry subject. In summary, this is a MUST READ for anyone interested in the Technology industry, and in today's world that should be everyone.
Rating:
Summary: This guy has *issues*
Review: Yes, Charles is brilliant, arrogant and is lightening-fast in seeing the failings of others and himself and is willing to take ownership of them (rectifying the situation and doing something about it is another story completely...). However, he also has a massive inferiority-complex when up against anyone with more brains, more money, more priviledge or more power than himself hence his complete disdain for anything Microsoft-related (never mind that it was the hand that fed him and he continues to bite it). He also fails to see that you can attract a lot more bees with honey instead of vinegar. It's not a coincidence that everyone from Vermeer, except Charles eventually landed a job at Microsoft, I suspect Gates was smart enough to see just how insanely jealous Charles must be of him. As for his acidic portrayal of many of the players in the book, I'm fairly sure Charles really reserves his most toxic rage and disdain for those persons who display A)either negative qualities he has and sees a lot of himself in and wished he did not have (i.e career opportunism, uppity-ness) or B)positive qualities he wished he had but is too nasty to ever take time out to acquire and attract (i.e Gates with his intelligence, power and wealth).
I've actually dated him and yes, his character does come out in his writing very strongly. So yes, he is a real jerk, and can be an even larger jerk especially when you've outsmarted him in any slight way. That being said, he also has a very warm, human, giving and honest side which for some unknown reason he hoards jealously (and glipses of it come out here and there in the book), which is why in the book he skewers just about everyone and their dog. It's really too bad - with a talent and intelligence like that, he could have gotten a lot more for Vermeer, a lot more for himself and he'd be a happier human being instead of a 50-ish, balding, lonely, bitter software millionaire in a Mazda Miata.
A+ = for writing, use of wit and humour as well as quality
A = for relevancy of content
B = for character portrayal
C = for overall importance in the grand scheme of things
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