This collection of interviews with founders of start-up companies is interesting but limited: every tale is a success story filtered through the “heroes’” memories. The author is a former investment bank marketing VP and current venture capitalist. A journalist would have asked more penetrating questions and, possibly, gone beyond the conventional dot com era myths.
What about the guys who didn’t make it, the founders pushed out of their own companies, and the early empolyees who saw their equity diluted by venture capitalists? You’ll find none of that here, nor will you find much about then new model “Web 2.0″ start-up that doesn’t take much, if any, outside investment.
February 28, 2009 update: In a blog post, author Jessica Livingston says, “I received evidence yesterday that some of the things Sabeer Bhatia said in his interview in Founders at Work were false.” It’s a sign of integrity that she noted this on her blog, but probably a good example of the risks of single-source stories told by and about “winners”.