Review
"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"
-Newsweek
"One of American venture capital's founding fathers." -The Economist
"You know you're rich when...you 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."
-Forbes
"A Silicon Valley Luminary...A decisive, brilliant strategist...His success came partly from a willingness to risk everything he had-literally-to get his way."
-San Jose Mercury News
"A big engine...a grand figure in the life of the Valley."
-David Kaplan in Silicon Boys
"A charismatic corporate gamesman with a gambler's nerve."
-San Francisco Chronicle
Book Description
A revealing memoir from Tom Perkins—renowned venture capitalist, Silicon Valley and biotechnology pioneer, and one of America’s most successful businessmen
Known for his idiosyncratic ideas and golden touch, Tom Perkins has always been one of the business world’s most intriguing figures. But his legacy took an unexpected new turn when he resigned from Hewlett-Packard’s board in 2006, protesting the “questionable ethics and dubious legality” of their chairman’s now infamous leak investigation. In this insightful memoir, Perkins recalls these and other fascinating episodes of his life, both personal and professional, including his involvement in the creation of American industries no one could have dreamed of a century ago.
In 1957 Perkins started working for Hewlett-Packard, and his career with the company spanned, becoming the administrative head of the research laboratories and the first general manager of its skyrocketing computer businesses. He was a pioneer in laser technology, starting the company that he later merged into Spectra-Physics. As chairman of Genentech for fourteen years, founder of the Silicon Valley venture-capitalist firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and director of Applied Materials at Compaq, Corning Glass, and Philips Electronics, Perkins never shies away from the cutting edge.
He also discusses his marriage to Danielle Steel, his notorious vintage car collection, his yacht (the largest privately owned sailboat), his race across the ocean, his being tried for manslaughter in a backwater French town, and the toughest assignment he’s ever had: as a trustee emeritus at the San Francisco ballet.