Book Reviews

WINNERS AND LOSERS

Creators and Casualties of the age of the Internet

Kieran Levis Atlantic Books

What a worry: you want to attract readers who are interested in finding out what made the New Emperors of the Net, but you have to get them to choose your book over surfing Wikipedia on their iPhones.

In business there are various ways to win - being first, fastest or cheapest, for example - and by most of these measures Mr Levis would have certainly lost out to the Web long ago. But, in telling his tale well and comprehensively, he has succeeded in an area where the Web still finds it relatively difficult to compete.

Levis took five years to write this book, so you'll struggle to find his short reference to Facebook (let alone Twitter). But the fact that the Web moved faster than he could write simply makes this a history book rather than the business book he doubtless began. And a history of Internet giants such as Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Sergey Brin (Google) and the events that changed how we conduct business forever - well, for a long time at least, since nothing lasts forever in Netland - is a must for any personal or business library.
These are tales of success and of failure too: for every Google there were several disasters, like Webvan ($1.2 billion down the drain) or Sony Films ($3.2 billion written-off).

Cleverly, Levis uses a century-old story to explain his findings. Until Henry Ford created the world's first car assembly line, car manufacturers were craftsmen and car owners very rich. By 1920, however, Ford was making a million Model Ts a year. Ford's success was not giving people what they want - as he acknowledged, 'If I'd asked people what they wanted they would have asked for a better horse' - but rather giving it to them cheap and quick.

One of the book's strongest insights is that the 'first mover advantage' is exaggerated as a business requisite. Netscape invented the Internet browser but Microsoft's Internet Explorer overwhelmed it out of existence; Apple invented the personal computer but soon lost most of its market share to the generic PC. Henry Ford would recognise the truth of this: General Motors almost put him out of business too.

To help us out, Levis distils his analysis of what made the winners succeed into a list of eight essential attributes he says can be found in all the successes. These include 'A clear strategic vision based on a radically different way of meeting a large, previously unsatisfied customer need' and 'Sharp focus on the chosen market.' Ah, I see. Must stop there - I've got a web business to launch. Will tweet later...

Penguin, 25 pounds