4 ms·
Ask HN: Favorite books about failed/declining companies?
Inspired by the recent thread about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos [1] I thought I'd make a thread asking for everyone's favorite books about failed/declining companies. Here is my list:
Bad Blood (Theranos)
Barbarians at the Gate (RJR Nabisco)
The Smartest Guys in the Room (Enron)
When Genius Failed (Long Term Capital Management)
Empire of Pain (Purdue Pharma)
Lights Out (GE)
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29789137
- Bostonian 5y agoThe 2008 financial crisis brought down Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual, and other companies, and there were several books about it, as well as company-specific books. Maybe someone can supply specific titles.
- pinewurst 5y agoRiding the Runaway Horse: The Rise and Decline of Wang Laboratories The Brain Makers: The History of Artificial Intelligence – Genius, Ego, And Greed In The Quest For Machines That Think (having seen this history in real life and can testify to veracity)
- mtmail 5y agoBoo Hoo: A dot.com Story from Concept to Catastrophe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boo.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boo.com) "In June 2008, CNET hailed Boo.com as one of the greatest dot-com busts in history"
- _448 5y agoStartup[0]: A Silicon Valley Adventure by Jerry Kaplan Story of how and why Go Corporation failed. This startup was one of the early tablet computer maker. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Startup-Silicon-Adventure-Jerry-Kaplan/dp/0140257314 https://www.amazon.com/Startup-Silicon-Adventure-Jerry-Kapla...
- enonevets 5y agoThis was a good read - Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry https://www.amazon.com/Losing-Signal-Extraordinary-Spectacular-BlackBerry/dp/1250096065/ https://www.amazon.com/Losing-Signal-Extraordinary-Spectacul...
- version_five 5y agoIf you liked all those books, I'd also recommend Den of Thieves, about the junk bond trading in the 80s. I've read an interesting book about Bear Stearns but unfortunately I dont remember the name, it was > 10 years ago. If you haven't read The Big Short, or seen the movie, it is a pretty popular one