The Leap: A Memoir of Love and Madness in the Internet Gold Rush

by Tom Ashbrook

In 1996, Tom Ashbrook was an international reporter who, in a crisis of the soul, resolved to join an old college classmate on the Internet rocket ride. THE LEAP tells the story of how he walked away... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0395839343
• ISBN13: 9780395839348
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Fun and Easy Read for An E-Commerce Blank Slate

"The Leap" is a fun, accessible and page turning foray into the world of e-commerce wannabes, especially if you happen to be clueless but intrigued by the phenomena of web start-ups and the preternatural sums of money required for so many of them. A friend lent me this book unsolicited. More out of courtesy than curiosity, I thought I'd skim the first few pages and return it. Wrong! Until I read it, I didn't think I was particulary interested in e-commerce matters, especially yuppie-sounding ones. But I found instead that Tom Ashbrook's book resonates on multiple levels, so that someone like me who'se not likely to be interested in what goes into starting 'just one more cyber company' is in for a big suprise. "The Leap" is an edgy mixture of personalities, relationships, families, mid-life crises, risk taking, and lots more. It's a quick and suspenseful read. Given the fickle nature of these companies, there's no final ending. Since completing this book, I've found that I pick up on media stories about other similar ventures undertaken by people with little or no capital and have a more fully informed (albeit of a 'cyber start-up 101' nature) idea and appreciation for what's involved. While people like Tom and his partner, Rolly Rouse (the obsessed and original brains behind the entire Homeportfolio venture) may not be entirely like you and me (they are after all Yale educated and know lots of people with potential deep pockets) they and their families are enough like lots of us that their story is simultaneously exciting and frightening. Enjoy your leap into their leap!

absolutely riveting!

I read this in about two days...could barely put it down. I actually cried at a couple places late in the book, which is absolutely weird for a business book, but Ashbrook's tale is poignant, beautiful, and wonderful, as much a story of indefatigable spirit and the human appetite for risk and glory as it is a business case study. And this book worked on a different, more personal level for me, too. I've lived a teeny bit of "The Leap" myself -- my husband founded a small financial magazine with his childhood friend and eventually quit his job to make a go of it, doing the venture capital route, etc. He wound up selling the little company to an Internet company (in the process, he actually met with some of the same people who Ashbrook talks about), and got a tidy little sum as well as the satisfaction of seeing it live on online. I never knew quite what he was going through then, and admittedly I could have been more supportive, but now I think I know. Wonderful, wonderful book...not just for Internet fans or business book people, but for anyone.

Totally Unexpected

As someone who "took the leap" myself, I was expecting to see a book with business insights that I could compare with my own, or with others found in, say, "High Stakes, No Prisoners." I figured there'd be "do's and don'ts" about leaving your job in midlife to try an Internet business.Instead, this book is in a completely different genre. To me, it reads like an inspirational autobiography of someone who once was a drug addict or a prisoner of war. It's a tale of pain, degradation, and ultimate redemption. You see how this comfortable, middle-class guy lets his need to join the entrepreneurial crowd take him lower and lower and lower. He goes past the threshold of pain that I could have taken and past what he would have believed he could take.Once my expectations adjusted, I loved the book. He writes so powerfully! Anyone with a soul will find the book to be thrilling and moving.

The Leap Inspired Me

I loved the leap. Read this even if you have no interest in the internet, the new economy, business etc. The story is not about starting a business or how to make millions on the internet. It is about a regular guy's unchartered, frightening, exciting and emotional journey into a world he knew he had join. Tom Ashbrook's story is funny, romantic and crazy. Most of all it is inspiring. After reading it, I was compelled to evaluate my own life choices - we should all hope to be as courageous And driven as Ashbrook in our search to be challenged, motivated and successful.

The Leap is the first "perfect" business book for women

The Leap is a book that tells the story of the launch of a business but, the story is told through the lense of the author's relationships. The author's journey is powerful and his experiences are palpable. The writing is vivid and powerful. In addition, Ashbrook truly captures the restlessness and angst of his generation. I could not put it down and I learned a great deal...a most unusual experience and a most extraordinary book.