"A terrific book that captures the explosion of creativity and business evolution at the center of the Internet phenomenon. A tantalizing mix of diverse players with utopian visions, animated by equal parts aggression and delight. A true saga of our time." James F. Moore, author of The Death of Competition Chairman, Geo Partners Research, Inc.
Architects of the Web presents the dynamic history of the Web′s creation and evolution as well as its emergence as a dynamic business tool through revealing profiles of its architects, the brilliant minds who have helped thrust the Web onto desktops and corporate agendas around the world. A diverse, ambitious group, the architects of the Web are: Marc Andreessen, Netscape
- Ariel Poler, I/PRO
- Rob Glaser, Progressive Networks
- Andrew Anker, HotWired
- Kim Polese, Marimba
- Halsey Minor, CNET
- Mark Pesce, VRML
- Jerry Yang, Yahoo!
It is arguably the most significant business tool of our time. As powerful as the television, the telephone, and the personal computer and destined to subsume them all the Internet has exploded from twenty–five years of lab room obscurity to become the hottest business story ever. The catalyst of this explosion, of course, is the rise of the World Wide Web, the Internet′s multimedia domain.
The Web itself was just an academic curiosity until a University of Illinois undergraduate and a young researcher wrote a piece of software called "Mosaic" that made the Web accessible and alluring to the masses. In the thousand days that followed Mosaic′s release on the PC and Macintosh, the Web attracted more than 40 million users.
This spectacular growth sparked one of the most dramatic periods of capital formation in history so far bringing a million dollars or more in invested capital to over 500 new companies. One of these companies, Netscape, quickly became the fastest growing software company in history. And its flagship product, the Netscape Navigator, became the most popular PC application in the world less than two years after its release.
Architects of the Web presents the history of the Web′s creation and evolution as well as its emergence as a dynamic business tool through revealing profiles of its architects, the brilliant minds who have helped thrust the Web onto desktops and corporate agendas around the world. On the cutting edge of the online revolution, these visionaries have all made vital contributions to the advancement and enhancement of the Web that will define the way we conduct business in the future. A diverse, ambitious group, the architects of the Web include:
- Marc Andreessen, Netscape: Coauthor of Mosaic and cofounder of Netscape, Marc touched off the Web revolution and soon became one of the most celebrated and talked–about entrepreneurs of our time.
- Kim Polese, Marimba: Sun Microsystems′ Java language is revolutionizing the economics and competitive dynamics of the technology industry. It is also one of that industry′s great marketing successes. Kim was Java′s "marketing department" during its early history, and in 1996 cofounded Marimba to help further the language′s development.
- Jerry Yang, Yahoo!: Jerry was a Stanford graduate student when he cocreated Yahoo!. The Internet′s leading directory service, Yahoo! has the potential to blossom into the world′s most powerful media property.
- Andrew Anker, HotWired: HotWired, the online cousin of Wired magazine, pioneered many of the business and content practices that are now standard to Internet publishing. Andrew, a Wall Street, not Silicon Valley veteran, has been running HotWired since its agenda–setting debut in the Web′s earliest days.
The entrepreneurs and companies profiled herein have already begun to play a pivotal role in defining our future business landscape. As the digital revolution continues, white–collar professionals everywhere will feel the effects on their business and personal choices. They are an eclectic group diverse enough that their stories will give readers a broad and thorough understanding of the Web′s history, its capabilities, and its business relevance. They are presented in a way that makes the concepts and forces that they discuss accessible and understandable. All are interesting, funny, thought–provoking, and above all, highly significant, as the changes the Web′s architects are effecting will have a profound impact on all of us.
