Siliconned: How the tech industry solves fake problems, hoards idle workers, and makes doomed bets with other people's money

by Emmanuel Maggiori

A start-up wastes a billion dollars making videos nobody wants to watch. A city rushes to build landing pads for flightless air taxi prototypes. Tech giants hire thousands of techies for fake projects to stop them working for rivals.

The tech industry has a tendency to go crazy. In Siliconned, industry insider Emmanuel Maggiori decodes tech’s hysteria and explains why we all pay the price for it.

You’ll

How tech investment became a blind hunt for pipe dreams, unicorns, and explosive growth;How shady incentives reward tech investors for burning cash;How governments and central banks pour fuel on the fire;How tech companies squander talent, and how well-intentioned fads like Agile and Lean help cover it up.
From low interest rates to gigantic bubbles, Siliconned turns the tech industry upside down and suggests how to fix it.


Emmanuel Maggiori, PhD, is a software engineer, writer, and speaker. He’s the author of the best-selling book Smart Until It’s Why artificial intelligence keeps making epic mistakes (and why the AI bubble will burst).

Genres: Technology, Nonfiction, Business, Audiobook

230 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 22, 2024

Reviews

[Dramatika · Rating 5 out of 5]

An eye opening book, tech is obsucre inefficient at times, and can create mlre problems that it solves. Amazing!

[Amy Maddess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Siliconned by Emmanuel Maggiori - A Must-Read for Fans of Scandalous Business Ventures

In Siliconned by Emmanuel Maggiori, I found a riveting and eye-opening read that delves into the depths of the tech and business world. As a fan of books like Bad Blood by John Carreyrou and Glossy by Marisa Meltzer, I was delighted to discover that Siliconned not only lived up to my expectations but exceeded them.

What sets Siliconned apart is its exploration of the true meanings behind the tech and business buzzwords that we often hear but may not fully understand. Maggiori's insightful analysis reveals how these words can be used as facades to mask the deceit and deception that can run rampant in the business world. This book serves as an introductory guide to why scams in the business world are able to happen, shedding light on the inherent flaws in the venture capitalist system that make it akin to a Ponzi scheme.

For fans of shows like Dragons Den or Shark Tank, Siliconned offers an accessible and engaging explanation of what truly goes on behind the scenes of business deals and proposals. Maggiori's writing style is engaging and informative, making complex concepts easy to grasp for readers of all backgrounds.

In conclusion, Siliconned is a must-read for anyone interested in scandalous business ventures and the inner workings of the tech industry. It is a compelling and thought-provoking book that will leave you questioning the realities of the business world and the true motives behind every deal. I highly recommend Siliconned to fans of investigative business journalism and those looking for a deeper understanding of the complexities of the modern business landscape.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought I had loads left but Kindle tricked me! A thoughtfully written book that doesn’t over complicate a simple point. The tech industry spends too much money, and spends it more often than not doing nothing useful for the general public. An easy read for anyone who wants to back up their icky feeling about tech, silicon valley, the dot com bubble, AI etc. with some good research rooted in personal experience.

[Jim Amos · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his latest book, aimed at challenging the perception of big tech companies as brilliant innovators and employers who improve the world with their inventions, Emmanuel Maggiori presents a critical review of an industry that is dominated by large corporations and startups that are over-confident, over-hyped and over-paid.

Starting with a discussion of the typical tech company’s exuberant and speculative spending on untenable or unsustainable ideas, like AI-powered solutions that never work as advertised or product ideas with no commercial or customer value beyond selling the personal data of users. Maggiori then takes us on a journey to understand tech’s myopic vision of growth and lack of product acumen, then explores how the VC funding industry enables so many bad ideas and bullshit jobs while gambling with the money paid into federal systems by regular tax payers, and how tech startups in the past decade have been artificially boosted by government economic policies and the lowering of interest rates (which have recently come to an end). He wraps things up with an insightful exploration of why so many techies have found themselves working for esteemed FAANG companies but not actually doing any work, and offers suggestions for how we might try to foster a culture of true value and betterment in the future.

The book is written in plain english, with plenty of humor and time taken to dispel myths, challenge common misconceptions, and explain some of the more nuanced methodologies of venture capitalists and economic systems in ways that someone who is not an expert in those topics can easily grok. I really appreciated feeling like I was being spoken with, rather than spoken down to. It’s a quick read that is very pertinent to the age we live in and is full of tidbits and quotes you will want to come back to as you discuss these topics with like minds.

[Ag · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books where I honestly have no clue how fact-based and how true the information presented in them is. I don’t know even the teeniest tiniest thing about the economy, economics, or those as fields of science. I’m not even comfortable being a part of a casual conversation about anything economy and economics-related, be it taxes, be it investments, be it inflation.
But, as this seems to be the clearest, the most well-explained, well-written source of information regarding all those matters I have seen EVER, I was glad to read it all and to accept it all as truth.
The first thing that assured me that this book can be trusted, was… startups.
For the longest time, I was confused – what are those startups at all? Like? Why? What’s the difference between just a neighbor Jane selling her handmade jewelry and having registered with the tax institutions as a business entity – and between startups? Both are brand-new companies. So why one is just a random Jane in her spare room, and the other one gets to be called the fancy name of a startup?  This book made it clear to me. Crystal clear. All of a sudden, I was no longer feeling dumb and just smiling and nodding, smiling and nodding whenever I saw and heard weird words like STARTUP when everyone around me pretended that they knew EXACTLY what it meant but me.
And so, it snowballed. The book made SO MUCH SENSE TO ME. So, so much. I honestly feel like I have learned more from reading this one (not too large) book than from years at school, at least business-model-wise and economy-wise.
And then, the part about fake problems and fake solutions. This was something I had suspected long ago already. I have enough friends in tech, and I have heard their rants more than once over the years. No one openly admitted the problems being fake and the solutions being absolutely redundant, yet somehow it always felt that way to me. Turns out, as this wonderful, most amazing book explains, I was right all along, and it’s ever way worse than I thought. Yay!

If I have to point out ONLY ONE general-information-non-fiction book that has made me smarter this year, I’m picking this book.
Who is the author? Has he written anything else? I want to read EVERYTHING he ever writes. I like the way he explains things the way I understand them.

[Percy L · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I'd like this book to get more attention. It seems to be hidden by the Goodreads algorithm and I had to force search it for some reason.

I had low expectations coming in and was very pleasantly surprised at how well written, concise and relatable the book is. Maggiori gives an insider's perspective to what is happening at the major tech companies and then goes on to deconstruct the underlying VC and investment community. I can't speak to the descriptions of bloated IT developer teams, but having been in the startup industry I can attest to the veracity of the VC ecosystem. Maggiori describes the economics of the VC financing model in plain and simple language and lays it bare for the public to see. It really is a scam that fund managers have a vested interest in propagating. People want to see virtual numbers increase and so the promises get bigger and bigger. Successive iterations of this behavior have ruined the investment community and as such, true innovation without bombastic economic promises are increasingly harder to pull off. His description of the 2% carry will outrage you and break your heart.

Siliconned is a quick read and very tight with simple, understandable writing supported by case examples that are easy to verify in the news. I only dropped my rating 1/2 star because a colleague pointed out that Maggiori lets the Temasek sovereign wealth fund let off the hook for supporting SBF's HUGE crypto scam. That one slid by me and is surprising since the rest of the book is a very no prisoners takedown of the industry.

[Darya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Straightforward thoughts of a software engineer about how tech industry operates today. It is a truth, although a bit sad. There are several discussions within the book. One has a focus on tech’s tendency to become a little too enthusiastic. I'm many cases investors bet huge money on outlandish start-ups that need a miracle to succeed or solve a problem with a nice to have solution or a problem never thought of. Today many start-ups try to grow fast by using other people’s money, so they’re unprofitable for years and not sustainable in the long run compared to slow growth bootstrapped companies. There is a discussion with deep thoughts of VCs and governmental bodies who provide to startups free money either managed for others by VCs or inn the form of grants from tax payers by government. And, finally, some words about people in tech and how they operate with ideas how how to improve the world of startups.

[Stefan · Rating 3 out of 5]

To the point, you got it all in the subtitle

Took me well too long, as it's a quick and engaging read. You will get more colour on the outlibe stared in the subtitle. Basically, the VC industry is a Ponzi scheme, and techies just partaken in it (to some extend still do, if you work in an overstaffed AI startup). Nothing anew if you are in the sector, might help others to understand why we have so many entitled, underqualified, now often unemployed around, but also what a good start-up might look like (in case relatives come asking for funding). It's so short and succinct that it's definitely worth a quick read. Mind over 20% of the book are links to sources,..

[Kaveh Hadjari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Openly insightful about US tech industry and it’s effects on individual employees and public good

An interesting exploration of the strange world of big tech hiring tactics, startups, venture capital and even government policies that are not mentioned in traditional media even though it clearly has needed more scrutiny by the public.

I can also point out while the book is entirely focused on US tech scene. Similar stories are emerging in other western countries as well. Some of them are related to careless ESG investment by the government.

[Michael Woudenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A recipe that cuts two ways

First, this book has fantastic insights for the corruption of Silicon Valley and how much bullshit goes on.
Second, it seems to assume that's a bug, not a feature.
There so much good insight here.
If you want to know how to solve real and valuable problems, read this book.
If you want to know how to be a founder and live fat and sassy on venture capital while doing nothing real, read this book.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an Audiobook version for free. As a software engineer and someone who worked at an angel investor group for a short time I found this book insightful. It helped connect some truths using easily digestible examples. The narrator is pleasant to listen to. The book does a good job of explaining why the Tech Industry is reliant on low interest rates and VCs with misaligned incentives.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read! This is not a technical book, but more of a business/finance book. I never knew these stories were true, especially for those in big tech companies.

I hope there is a sequel to this book that focuses on the current AI hype now.

[Ivana Amidzic]

Appreciated a broader economic underlying framework very much, business and common sense wise. Would be a great complimentary read with Unicorns, Hype, and Bubble by Jeffrey Funk (even though they offer different take on Palantir's profitability).

[Samuel Taggart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Read.

Interesting insight into how SillyCon Valley and the Vulture Capitalists work. A lot more makes sense now.

[Zbigniew Zdziarski · Rating 4 out of 5]

The premise of the book: VCs are now a scam and the current default way that tech startups are run and funded is broken. I tend to agree. The author has had years of experience in the field.

[Christopher Pirek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provided interesting first hand knowledge of software engineering roles within big tech. It was very insightful.