Fastlane
The Internet Boom, Silicon Valley Start-Ups, and the Venture Capital Mindset
“Well, it is a bit past 1 a.m. and for the third or fourth night in a row I have stayed up too late. All because of you. I just finished Fastlane.”
Jerome Engel, UC Berkeley, Faculty Director, Venture Capital Executive Program
Fastlane takes you back to the beginnings of the Internet. Entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, business managers, and investors — no one knew where this would lead us. Yet we knew it was big.
Instant millionaires were made overnight, elated yet uncertain that their paper fortunes from this dream world would be there at the morning’s opening bell.
Chandler takes us first hand, first person into the excitement, chaos, and “irrational exhuberance” of that pivotal time. As the Director of Business Development for a Japanese tech subsidiary in the heart of Silicon Valley, he struggles to understand the brimming changes to our ways of doing business while maneuvering the nuances of Japanese business culture. Hobnobbing with VCs, entrepreneurs,and CEOs, he searches for his own place in the fastlane on the new road to riches.
What would you have done?
Riding alongside, what risks would you take? What negotiation strategies? How would you have navigated those unknown days? Ask yourself as you accompany him into a new digital realm.
“Jim has written a masterful account of the inner workings of the venture capital community. Quite engaging and an accurate reflection of our life and times in the venture community. He shares the intimate details that make this book a must read!”
– Norm Fogelsong, Managing Director, Institutional Venture Partners“Fastlane tells a tale of the beginning of a disruptive innovation that is still shaking the foundations of business and our everyday lives. Powerful, personal, and poignant. This is the inside story of a revolution.”
– Jerome S. Engel, U.C. Berkeley, Faculty Director, Venture Capital Executive Program“I loved the book, a deeply personal and individual view into the internet explosion of the late 1990’s, from a unique perspective.”
– David Carlick, Partner, Vantage Point Venture Partners, Rho Ventures; Chairman & Partner, Adventure Capital Venture Management; Co-founder, Double-Click; VP Poppe-Tyson; Independent Director, various.“I must say, you write the way you speak: thoughtful, curious about the big picture, just a bit Bohemian, and spiced with entrepreneurial zest. It is an appealing and unusual combination.”
– Frank Thibodeau, Venture Partner, Artiman Ventures; CEO, Worldpages; Director of Research and Venture Dept., Itochu Technology Inc.
Before you buy, look at some writing samples below,
then choose an electronic or print copy at → 
The task of compressing five frenzied years into one memoir mandated the omission of tales about emerging technologies, creative business ideas, bold people, and a fascinating culture.
Yet this new world of connection and opportunity is all about finding ways to break free of constraints. Herein are additional vignettes highlighting the ► ► ►
- TECHNOLOGIES of the day
- COMPANIES and people forming them
- CULTURE of Japanese business and society
- CULTURE of American business and society
- INVESTING in private and new companies
- and see PHOTOS below