Code Name Ginger

I’ve started a Books category to recommend good books! I have also added a Bookroll to the sidebar on the site. Hooray.

As usual, I will try to avoid the usual. You won’t see recommendations for Seth Godin books here. He is great great great, but he gets enough coverage elsewhere.

Some thoughts on reading books:

1. You don’t have to read the book in order.

2. You don’t have to read the whole book.

3. You don’t have to read all of the sections with the same scrutiny.

Use it, abuse it, get what you want from the book and move on! Books are not sacred.

I’m reading Code Name Ginger which documents the lifecycle of the Segway from inspiration to launch. Dean Kamen (the “inventor” of the Segway) gave Steve Kemper, the author, exclusive insider access from the very beginning of the project. Kamen wanted the project documented in detail.

Many business and technology journalists have zero clue — kudos to the author for writing a credible book filled with juicy stories that combine business, engineering, and entrepreneurship. The book seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. It is in such low demand, you can buy it on Amazon $2.25. It deserves better.

This excerpt from the book details an awesome meeting between John Doerr, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and Dean Kamen. And God.

Here are some more snippets from the book:

Venture Capital Chases the Entrepreneur

After one ride on Ginger, superstar venture capitalist John Doerr was hooked. Dean said Doerr told him: “We’ve done more dotcoms than anyone. I never thought I’d see something in my life as big as the Internet, as far as making a difference. And I just saw it.” The usually elusive Doerr began calling Dean from all over the globe, trying to negotiate for a bigger piece of Ginger.

History-Making Valuations and a Financing Coup

Credit Suisse First Boston and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers both agreed with the valuation given to Ginger by Dean and his financial advisor: $500 million. It was the largest valuation either company had ever given to a startup. In the spring of 2000, at the height of the dotcom melt-down, Dean signed for nearly $80 million in funding from Credit Suisse First Boston and Kleiner Perkins. It was Kleiner Perkins’ largest deal ever.

Wowing Steve Jobs

When Steve Jobs first rode Ginger at John Doerr’s California compound, he didn’t want to share it with anyone. Whenever Dean asked him to give it up for awhile, Jobs would watch impatiently for a few minutes and then tell the other rider, “Get off.” Jobs wanted to be the main investor—but Dean declined his money.

“When they call you crazy, you know you have a good idea.”

That’s what Jeff Bezos said to Dean during a visit to see Ginger. “People won’t show this to two people,” added Bezos. “They’ll show it to 100 people. It will be viral.”

Marketing in the Dark

Since the Ginger marketing team couldn’t test how consumers would react to the machine, they went to New York City and rode kick scooters, electric scooters, and small folding bikes along sidewalks and stores throughout the city, gauging how people responded to unusual transporters. They rolled through Penn Station, Grand Central, the subway. They even scootered past the guard in the glassware section of Williams Sonoma.

The Electric Pedestrian

The Ginger team had resolved all the complex engineering issues surrounding the machine, but as Dean said, “The 64 billion dollar question is whether a cop will stop you [on the sidewalk]. We are an electric pedestrian. [The Segway] is not a vehicle. It’s an alternative to walking. We can’t let them call us a scooter.”