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Chaos Monkeys

Inside the Silicon Valley Money Machine

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Chaos Monkeys

By: Antonio Garcia Martinez
Narrated by: Dan John Miller
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About this listen

An adrenaline-fuelled exposé of life inside the tech bubble, Chaos Monkeys lays bare the secrets, power plays and lifestyle excesses of the visionaries, grunts, sociopaths, opportunists and money cowboys who are revolutionising our world. Written by startup CEO and industry provocateur Antonio García Martínez, this is Liar's Poker meets The Social Network.

Computer engineers use 'chaos monkey' software to wreak havoc and test system robustness. Similarly, tech entrepreneurs like Antonio García Martínez are society's chaos monkeys - their innovations disrupt every aspect of our lives, from transportation (Uber) and holidays (Airbnb) to television (Netflix) and dating (Tinder) - all in search of the perfect business miracle.

Describing himself as 'high strung, fast talking, and wired on a combination of caffeine, fear, and greed at all times', García Martínez left Wall Street to make his fortune in Silicon Valley, becoming CEO of his own start-up before bailing and being poached by Facebook's nascent advertising team. Here he turned users' data into profit for COO Sheryl Sandberg and chairman and CEO Mark 'Zuck' Zuckerberg.

Forced out of Facebook in the wake of a bitter internal product war, García Martínez took his unique brand of entrepreneurial hyperactivity to rivals Twitter. Along the way he got into a lot of trouble with a lot of people, brewed illegal beer on the Facebook campus (accidentally flooding Zuckerberg's desk), lived on a yacht, raced sport cars on the highway, and enthusiastically pursued the lifestyle of an overpaid Silicon Valley mercenary.

In Chaos Monkeys he tells you how - and how not - to make a fortune through start-ups and digital marketing. Highly entertaining and always offering genuine insight, García Martínez unravels the chaotic evolution of social media and online marketing. From start-ups and credit derivatives to Big Brother and data tracking, social media monetisation and digital 'privacy', he shares both his scathing observations and outrageous antics, taking us on a subversive and very funny tour of the fascinatingly insular and unbelievably wealthy tech industry.

©2016 Antonio Garcia Martinez (P)2016 Random House AudioBooks Corporate & Public Finance E-Commerce Forecasting & Strategic Planning Management & Leadership Marketing Marketing & Sales Professionals & Academics Science & Technology Business Commerce Technology Money
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A very insightful and most of all entertaining read that is a must for all startup entrepreneurs and pretty much anyone in the tech or VC business. A supremely entertaining writing style and brilliantly read. Kudos A.G.M

Insightful and entertaining

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If the author was not so verbose the story would only have been 1/3 as long. You could sometimes get lost in his descriptions of things but under all that it was really insightful and particularly useful if you have an interest in ad exchanges.

Verbose but compelling

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This book is an excellent mix of interesting facts, amusing insights, and an under the covers look at Silicon Valley and the crazy antics of the tech startup world. I highly recommend this to anyone who is thinking of starting a tech company, signing up the Facebook, or brewing beer. Not only is the book fun the listen to, the narrator brings the protagonist to life in a way that you almost feel you are witness to Antonio’s inner thoughts.

One of my all time favourites!

A story that I can listen to time and time again

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Having spent most of my working life in tech, and time in San Francisco, this book was right on point and thoroughly entertaining.

thoroughly enjoyed

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Very open account of tech life. Bloke has a vendetta and is poor dad.

Good story for a techie, bad example for a family

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It’s an excellent summary of ad tech circa 2013. An interesting insight in to Silicon Valley and ultimately a book by an author who unironically represents himself in all his folly. It’s the most interesting book that I will never recommend, because I fear the recommendation will reflect some tacit endorsement of the authors behaviour and attitudes.

Fascinating, gripping and a book that I’ve been talking about but prefixing it with “I’m not recommending it”

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Great pace and use of language. Really enjoyed the perspective of Silicon Valley and the various characters.

Excellent read

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Garcia Martinez relates a lot of inner sanctum workings of Silicon Valley and IT companies in general, including Facebook, Google and others. He explains how Social Media works, and funnels, how computers trace and track our every single keystroke, how you can read an article about running shoes on one website on your phone then you log into Facebook and start seeing ads for that same shoe, and you get emails advertising half-price sales of those shoes etc.. If you've ever thought there's a bit of Big Brother shenanigans happening there, you've no idea the enormity of the intrusion. He also explains how he created Cookies, what they are, how they track your movements, and why they're such a valuable asset to advertisers and a commodity in SM. At times it got so deep in detail that it lost me, or I foundered in my understanding. I just kept going and eventually rejoin the story. Interesting and worthwhile reading.

Intimate insides from the man who created Cookies.

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As a social media manager this book was entertaining and informative and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to read a business book that true as it is sounds like a fiction novel.

A must read for anyone who buys digital advertising

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A great first person glimpse into Silicon Valley and the semi-organized chaos that takes place there.

Entertaining and enlightening.

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