Digital Hustlers

July 2, 2001
"Oh my God, what happened?" laments a key figure in this informative account of the rise and fall of startup millionaires in "Silicon Alley." Consisting almost entirely of interviews with the digerati of New York City's version of Silicon Valley, this oral history by dot-com veterans Kait and Weiss (of Salon.com and RedFilter.com, respectively) opens circa 1995, when only geeks had e-mail and skeptics believed that the Internet would go the way of the CB radio. But soon dot-com exploits landed on the front page and money started to rain down from venture capitalists. Perhaps the culmination of the mania was the legendary three-month bash for New Year's Eve 2000 thrown by Pseudo.com's Josh Harris (a manic figure who emerges as the Caligula of Silicon Alley). But on April 17, 2000—a date that the dot-commers speak of the way their parents refer to the Kennedy assassination—the NASDAQ began its downward spiral. Within a few months, TheGlobe.com began paying its employees with free pizza instead of cash; other startups dissolved their Web sites. It's a sad story that the wistful dot-commers describe as a Garden of Eden–type morality tale: in the beginning the Internet was pure and good, then it was invaded by capitalists who corrupted it for their own sinister designs. Kait and Weiss astutely avoid passing judgment on such beliefs (even when a colleague is admiringly described as the "Henry James of Silicon Alley" and another claims he'll be bigger than Andy Warhol). A good read despite the naivete and arrogance of its dramatic personae, Kait and Weiss's book provides a timely elegy for an extravagant, dying culture.

May 15, 2001
Silicon Alley, a name coined by young New York City entrepreneurs who developed and expanded the Internet computer industry, grew from a "handful of Internet start-ups" in 1995 to "the fastest growing employer on the East Coast" in 2000. The industry continued to grow until April 2000, when the Nasdaq dropped nearly 300 points; as a result, Silicon Alley companies laid off many employees, canceled IPOs, and, in some cases, went out of business. Weiss, of direct marketing company RedFilter.com, and Casey Kait, an editor at Salon.com, tell the story of Silicon Alley through accounts by key players, among whom are Marissa Bowe, former editor-in-chief of Word.com; John McCabe Calacanis, CEO and founder of Silicon Alley Reporter; Jerry Colonna, cofounder of Flatiron Partners; and Kevin Ryan, CEO of DoubleClick. The first-person accounts give readers access to inside information about development, growth, and crisis in the industry after the 2000 market loss. These accounts are arranged within sections, beginning with "Evangelists and Entrepreneurs," and the authors provide introductory comments to explain the historical context of each. The book offers a unique look at the Internet industry and its major Silicon Alley players. Recommended for business collections in academic and public libraries. Lucy Heckman, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, NY

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.