DRM - Daniel’s Random Mutterings

I recently read through (most of) “Founders At Work” by Jessica Livingston. The book’s idea and premise is as simple as it is brilliant: Interview the founders of well-known startups, print the interviews, and - hopefully - give the reader some insight into the workings of an IT startup.

What I didn’t like

Let’s start with one small detail I didn’t like, and get that out of the way as quickly as possible.

For my liking (especially as a non-US reader), the book’s interviews could have done with a bit more editing. They feel as though they’ve been printed more or less directly from the transcript. And people simply don’t always speak in ways that are suitable for print. In general, the tone of the book is fine and it’s quite enjoyable to follow the interviews. The first time, though, that I read

“… and I was like ‘Yeah. Let’s do that’. And he was all like positive.”

(quote from memory), that just made me want to throw up - into the book - then close the bloody thing and put it away. I’m sorry; I know I’m probably being overly critical. Reading language like that just hurts my eyes.

What I liked about the book

This book gives all the aspiring startup founders a feel that the other guys, who succeeded in something you’re just starting out on, are just human, make some of the same mistakes and bad choices, have some of the same bad experiences but were able to pull it off and make it work. There isn’t a single interview in this book where you think the person just succeeded due to some large piece of sheer dumb luck.

A while ago, I had a chance to spend a week and a half in Palo Alto on business. On the weekend, I took my rental car and went for a drive around California to take in a few of the sights. One of the attractions I visited was the Winchester Mystery House south of San Jose.

The story of the WMH

The story behind the house (as I remember it) is this. Sarah Winchester — widow of the guy who invented the Winchester Rifle — was a bit batty. That’s because she lived in America; had she lived in England, she would merely have been eccentric. She lived in this mansion and had all the wealth her late husband had accumulated due to rather satisfying sales of his patented rifle (you know the one — I think Wyatt Earp uses it in one of the movies about the OK Corral).
Somehow, the good widow had gotten it into her head that she needed to placate the souls of those killed by her husband’s invention. So every night she held a séance and listened to the spirits, who would give her visions of what she should add to her house. As long as she kept on building the mansion, she would be safe from the spirits’ wrath. So for 38 years she kept on adding to the mansion, keeping all the builders in the area pretty busy. She added towers, outbuildings, new wings, whole new floors, lots and lots of windows (some of them in interior walls, not actually looking outside), fireplaces, and more. In order to confuse the spirits (and - quite probably - a few builders along the way), she added staircases that go around in circles, doors that are backed by brick wall and don’t actually lead anywhere, staircases that go up to the ceiling and just end there, and several other quaint but not very useful building features. Somehow, I don’t think she was interested in a feature in Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Since she was, for the time, spectacularly wealthy, none of this construction was done on the cheap. She imported windows and material from France, added marble statues and other works of art. She added gas lighting and indoor plumbing. The large staterooms have beautiful wood flooring and divine fireplaces.
She kept up this construction project right up until her death. The result is simply spectacular. A sprawling mansion, covering a large area. There are fascinating guided tours through the grounds and the mansion. If you haven’t been there yet, and are in the area, visit it. It’s a really cool place.