Book Short: Internet Fiction It’s been a long time since I read Tom Evslin’s Hackoff.com, which Tom called a “blook” since he released it serially as a blog, then when it was all done, as a bound book. Mariquita and I read it together and loved every minute of it. One post I wrote about it at the time was entitled Like Fingernails on a Chalkboard. The essence of that post was “I liked it, but the truth of the parts of the Internet bubble that I lived through were painful to read,” applies to two “new” works of Internet fiction that I just plowed through this week, as well. Uncommon Stock Eliot Pepper’s brand new startup thriller, Uncommon Stock,…
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Tom Evslin
Like Fingernails on a Chalkboard
Like Fingernails on a Chalkboard Anyone who worked in the Internet in the early days probably remembers all-too-vividly how silly things got near the end. Even those who had nothing to do with the industry but who were alive at the time with an extra dollar or two to invest in the stock market probably has some conception of the massive roller coaster companies were on in those years. The memories/images/perceptions all come crashing down in the latest chapter of Tom Evslin’s blook hackoff.com in a manner that reminds me of the sound of fingernails racing down a chalkboard. You’ve heard it before, you can’t forget it, you squirm every time you hear it, but you can’t tear yourself away…
Hackoff – The Blook, Part II
Hackoff – The Blook, Part II A few weeks back, I posted about a new blook (book delivered in single episodes via blog) called Hackoff.com – An Historic Murder Mystery Set in the Internet Bubble and Rubble, by Tom Evslin. A few weeks into it, and I’m hooked. It’s: – complete and total brain candy, or mental floss as Brad calls it – a great 2 minute break in the middle of the day (episodes are delivered once a day during the week) – a very entertaining reminder about some of the wacky things that went on back in the Internet heyday – a good look into some of the processes that go on behind the scenes in taking a…
Hackoff – The Blook
Hackoff – The Blook Fred and Brad have already posted some pertinent details as well, but here’s a must-read for you – entrepreneur Tom Evslin, who has a great blog, has just launched an online book, serialized as a blog. It’s about a fictitious Internet bubble company called Hackoff.com (nice name!), and you can subscribe to the episodes of the book, either by RSS feed or by email. The first episode and various subscription options are all here. Tom’s a great writer and had front row seats/was a lead actor in the bubble. The first episode has me hooked. This is going to be fun!
Developer User Guide?
Developer User Guide? Tom Evslin wrote a two-part series this week called “Managing Programming for CEOs” (links here for Part I and Part II). The first is pretty funny, and the second has some good thoughts in it, especially around milestone creation. But if Tom’s had the experice he relays in Part I in real-life over and over, I have a suggestion for him: get a great head of development he can trust, and work closely with him or her over the years to build a relationship of mutual trust so those issues are no different than they are with functional managers of other departments. We are fortunate enough at Return Path to have two such individuals in Andy Sautins…