"[Perkins] sews dry humor through tales of yachting triumphs, road rallies in expensive cars, tech start-ups and the boardroom coup he instigated at Hewlett Packard. Looking back without rancor or remorse, he has a knack for storytelling that makes him feel like a buddy who never fails to laugh at himself."
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TIME Magazine "Tom Perkins is a man of extraordinary passions, among them deals, venture capital, entrepreneurs, ocean racing, vintage cars, and extraordinary women. Valley Boy is a heady mix of picaresque adventure and high finance, more fun than most novels, told in a charming, intimate style as if you were a privileged guest on one of Tom's legendary yachts."
-- James Stewart,
New Yorker contributor and author of the best-selling
Den of Thieves "A smart, often funny and wholly engaging account of a fabulous and varied life lived on the frontiers of high tech America. Utterly absorbing from first to last, this is one memoir which is as unique as its author."
-- Richard North Patterson, #1
New York Times best-selling author
As if Tom Perkins didn't have it all--and he does not seem to lack for one single thing--the guy can damn well WRITE, too. I picked up
Valley Boy before dinner, got engrossed by the Hewlett Packard intrigue, sailed on through Danielle Steel, and wound up skipping a meal. This is an entertaining, penetrating, and even wise look at the high life, California-style!
-- Sean Wilsey, author of the best-selling
Oh the Glory of It All "I read it in one sitting and enjoyed the fascinating, frank and open discussion of Perkins' life."
-- Prof. Herbert Boyer, cofounder of Genentech
Praise for Tom Perkins "A Titan of American Business"
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Newsweek "One of American venture capital's founding fathers." -
The Economist "You know you're rich whenyou assemble one of the world's great collections of supercharged cars of the 1920s and 30s, sell it just before the antique car market collapses, but still drive to the office in a late-model turbo Bentley. Perkins provides a paradigm of life lived wisely and well, without a wrong note, a missed step, or (it seems) a dream unrealized."
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Forbes "A Silicon Valley LuminaryA decisive, brilliant strategistHis success came partly from a willingness to risk everything he had-literally-to get his way."
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San Jose Mercury News "A big enginea grand figure in the life of the Valley."
-David Kaplan in
Silicon Boys "A charismatic corporate gamesman with a gambler's nerve."
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San Francisco Chronicle
Customer Reviews & Comments
"The skeptics so out numbered the believers that I had stopped listening."
"And never proven in practice with nearly six years of risk-taking on the line."
"The betting was against me."
"They hadn't for a moment truly dared to hope that anyone in the world would take on so much risk. And to this day I believe that I was the only person who would have done so."
"But why not?... I had spent my career managing high-tech high risk; there should be a way to "put the risk up front." The essence of the program I had in mind was testing.... I hoped to have proof of principle in hand before the major flow of money into the build program was underway."
"There was something in his personality that was very assuring. I decided to gamble on his promise. I said yes."
"The agreement proved to benefit all parties. As in any good deal, it had to be fair to all parties."
"In that glance and with just a nod between us, we discarded all the planned slow testing which had been so carefully outlined; we were going for it. "In five minutes, we would know everything."
"And after those minutes the results of five and half of work, and the investment of the national budget of a banana republic, were indeed in: (it) was a stunning success - a stupendous breakthrough. I HAD GAMBLED AND I HAD WON!"
These quotes from the last chapter of "Valley Boy" capture Tom Perkins' thoughts while developing and building the largest private sailboat in the world, the Maltese Falcon. They also capture the essence of Perkins in everything he turned his attention to - creating a venture capital firm that reshaped venture investing, creating venture companies that reshaped or created whole industries, serving on boards of major US and non-US companies, and reshaping the San Francisco Ballet Company into one of the world's top ballet companies.
Perkins, in this very well written and readable autobiography, covers his childhood; his early interest in physics (Mr. Wilson, his high school physics teacher was the first person in Tom's life to pay him any serious attention); his early introduction, while at MIT, to venture capital through Harvard Professor Georges Doriot; the role of David Packard, Hewlett Packard founder as a mentor, and as the father he so desperately needed; the love of his life, wife and Norwegian beauty, Gerd Thune-Ellefsen who died on August 20, 1994 (There really is love at first sight..."To this day I carry a snapshot of Gerd."); the founding of Kleiner Perkins and the KP formula ("We had a more of a hands-on approach than was the mode at the time."); the founding of Tandem Computers and Genentech; his short marriage to and on-going relationship with author Daniel Steele; the most challenging period of my career as he led the search to rebuild the San Francisco Ballet; his love of sailing and design of sailing vessels; and his well-publicized board dispute while on the Board of Hewlett-Packard.
Readers will find "Valley Boy" a great behind the scenes read as the book is loaded with nuggets. Perkins spreads the credit around, is contrite ("...but I failed... probably much of it was my fault."), and introspective (libertarian, impatient, and very, very decisive). There is also plenty of silicon valley history with Perkins talking about the early days, the emergence of several Valley luminaries - Dave Packard & Bill Hewlett, Don Lucas, Bill Davidow, John Young, Jimmy Treybig, Sandy Robertson, Bill Hambrecht, John Doerr, and Brook Byers - and his close relationship with Gene Kleiner.
Perkins epitomizes experience coupled with judgment. He demonstrates a keen desire to learn and never backs away from the experience of something new (he even served as a volunteer fireman while in his 50s!). More importantly, he has developed the important and elusive quality of judgment. With good judgment, little else matters. Without it, nothing else matters. His leadership is, at its marrow, the chronicle of his judgment calls.
"Valley Boy" shows that Perkins has wisely processed and integrated experience, reflection, valid sources of timely information, openness to the unbidden and character. Perkins has shared more than most making this a must read for those who strive to be successful venture investors, entrepreneurs, or want to understand what it takes to create breakthroughs when skeptics well outnumber the believers.
