Starting Something: An Entrepreneur's Tale of Corporate Culture

by Wayne McVicker

A piercingly honest and highly personal story of how a software firm that accidentally became a dotcom darling and eventually a $3 billion public company, survived its struggles in the face of daunting obstacles. Delivers a wealth of insight, information, and advice for entrepreneurs. An unflinching look at both the dark and the bright sides of corporate culture.

Genres: Business

483 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 31, 2010

Reviews

[Vasanth Pragash · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to purchase this book as it was required for my MBA class. This is my review of the book.

Pros:
1) Good insight of how the entrepreneur ecosystem works. It covers the company neofroma from its bootstrapping stage, the angel funding stage to the ultimate public listing phase.
2) Strong detail of the personal struggles, challenges of managing a new startup, making deals, navigating the hurdles,etc.
Cons:
1)Very very tedious to read, most chapters are really boring. Personally i would like to see the economic development of a company, the financials and impact as opposed to a x-ray of a nascent startup. The construction seems to make Neoforma one of the most boring startups in history.
2) Its not a whole and cohesive narrative, its a collection of disjoint chapters that highlight key moments in the neoforma timeline.

[Katie Anders · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very helpful for me as someone minoring in entrepreneurship. There were many helpful lessons and a real look into what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

[Hess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Authentic and informative. McVicker relates his personal experience scaling Neoforma (healthcare B2B portal) from first blush to IPO. While he describes himself as 'the inside guy' this book has more of a focus on the human element and VC-founder politics than it does on product. Useful reading for any founder heading down the IPO path.