Wednesday, April 8
Hi Everyone,
After many long days, nights, and weekends reporting and writing about the tech giants’ inner workings, my book, Always Day One, is officially here.
Sadly, the book comes at an unfortunate moment. When I first envisioned this week, I pictured it differently. But life changed quickly. The book is now down the list of concerns, following our health, both physical and mental, the economy, and many other things.
But if I were to make a speech at a book party today, I’d talk a bit about the publishing process, which fascinates me. So let me tell you the story. About two years ago, I walked into Penguin’s New York offices with an idea for a book I wanted to write. Working as a reporter covering the tech giants, I had seen their culture, leadership practices, technology, and process were fairly different from other companies I had come across. I wanted to figure out if there was a link between their practices and their dominance.
At the time, I had nowhere near the reporting necessary to write it. And to be honest, the idea wasn’t fully fleshed out. But over the course of about an hour, the Penguin team and I went back and forth, drilling down on the concepts, and we thought there might be some oil there. A week later, I found out they’d give me the room to do the reporting, dial in the idea, and they’d publish the book when I finished. Now, they’ve brought it to life.
Through bets like these, the publishing industry introduces big ideas to our society. They often work with first-time authors, like me, who’ve never written more than a few thousand words at a time. It’s not easy work. It’s risky. But it makes us all better off.
Today, many bookstores are closed, and airports are empty, and who knows what comes next. So I’ll just say, here’s to the publishers. Like any author, I’m hoping my book does well. More than that, I’m looking forward to seeing them take similar bets on others and reading what they come up with.
Here’s a link to find the book at an independent publisher:
https://bookshop.org/books/always-day-one-how-the-tech-titans-plan-to-stay-on-top-forever/9780593083482
And one from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0593083482
Thank you for considering it :)
So What’s In The Book?
Always Day One goes into depth inside Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft. It shows how these companies’ cultures and internal processes are a big part of why they’re so dominant.
A few excerpts and reviews have hit in the past week:
Business Insider wrote a review: "Always Day One gives readers an unparalleled overview of the business secrets, corporate structures, and internal cultures that have allowed Facebook, Amazon, and Google to thrive."
Fast Company ran an excerpt: How Facebook became “the most Chinese company In Silicon Valley.”
Marcus Baram, Fast Company’s features editor tweeted: “‘Why do we stigmatize copying?...Don’t we learn everything from copying first? Don’t we learn music by copying Mozart and Beethoven?’ A quote about Facebook from @Kantrowitz's excellent new book, ‘Always Day One’”
The Columbia Journalism Review hosted a Q&A: Talking with BuzzFeed technology writer Alex Kantrowitz about his book "Always Day One"
And BuzzFeed News published an exclusive excerpt about Apple: It's A "Cold War Every Day" Inside This Group At Apple
Here’s the beginning of that Apple excerpt:
A group inside Apple called Information Systems & Technology, or IS&T, builds much of the company’s internal technology tools — from servers and data infrastructure to retail and corporate sales software — and operates in a state of tumult.
IS&T is made up largely of contractors hired by rival consulting companies, and its dysfunction has led to a rolling state of war. “It’s a huge contractor org that handles a crazy amount of infrastructure for the company,” one ex-employee who worked closely with IS&T told me. “That whole organization is a Game of Thrones nightmare.”
Interviews with multiple former IS&T employees and its internal clients paint a picture of a division in turmoil, where infighting regularly prevents the creation of useful software, and whose contract workers are treated as disposable parts.
You can read the rest here:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alexkantrowitz/always-day-one-exclusive-excerpt-apple
And the book links one more time:
Indies
Amazon
I hope you’re all hanging in there. Thanks for reading along and continuing to subscribe. We’ll get through this together.
Yours,
Alex
