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The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future
The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future
The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future
Audiobook5 hours

The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future

Written by Steve Case

Narrated by Steve Case

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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About this audiobook

The #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller from Steve Case—the co-founder of AOL—presents “a compelling roadmap for the future…that can help us make sense of the technological changes reshaping our economy and the world. A fascinating read” (Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and founder of LeanIn.org).

Steve Case—a pioneer who made the Internet part of everyday life—was on the leading edge of a revolution in 1985 when he co-founded AOL, the first Internet company to go public and the most successful business of the 1990s. Back then Case was an entrepreneur in an industry that hadn’t really been invented yet, but he had a sense how dramatically the Internet would transform business and society. In The Third Wave, he uses his insights garnered from nearly four decades of working as an innovator, investor, and businessman to argue the importance of entrepreneurship and to chart a path for future innovators.

We are entering, as Case explains, the “Third Wave” of the Internet. The first wave saw AOL and other companies lay the foundation for consumers to connect to the Internet. The second wave saw companies like Google and Facebook build on top of the Internet to create search and social networking capabilities, while apps like Snapchat and Instagram leveraged the smartphone revolution. Now, Case argues, we’re entering the Third Wave: a period in which entrepreneurs will vastly transform major “real world” sectors such as health, education, transportation, energy, and food—and in the process change the way we live our daily lives.

Part memoir, part manifesto, and part playbook for the future, The Third Wave explains the ways in which newly emerging technology companies will have to rethink their relationships with customers, with competitors, and with governments; and offers advice for how entrepreneurs can make winning business decisions and strategies—and how all of us can make sense of this ever-changing digital age.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 5, 2016
ISBN9781442397873
Author

Steve Case

Steve Case is one of America’s best-known and most accomplished entrepreneurs, and a pioneer in making the internet part of everyday life. He cofounded America Online in 1985, when just three percent of people were online for an average of just one hour a week. He saw the possibilities of the digital future and built AOL into the largest and most valuable internet company in the 1990s (and the first internet company to go public). Case’s passion for helping entrepreneurs remains his driving force. He was the founding chair of the Startup America Partnership—an effort launched at the White House in 2011 to accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship in every region of the country. Case also was the founding cochair of the National Advisory Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and a member of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, where he chaired the subcommittee on entrepreneurship.  He was active in passing the bipartisan JOBS Act in 2012, which made it easier for startups to raise capital. His engagement on policy led Politico to name him “Washington’s tech whisperer” in 2017.  As chairman and CEO of Revolution, a Washington, DC-based investment firm he cofounded in 2005, Case partners with visionary entrepreneurs to build businesses such as Zipcar, Sweetgreen, Clear, Tempus, DraftKings, and many others. Case also serves as chair of the Smithsonian Institution, which under his leadership has launched a bold effort to make the best of the Smithsonian available to every home and classroom. He is also Chairman of the Case Foundation, and with his wife Jean was among the first to commit to The Giving Pledge, dedicating a majority of their wealth to charitable causes.

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Reviews for The Third Wave

Rating: 4.2727272727272725 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This books provides the history that aspiring founder needs to know & how to prepare for the upcoming revolution.

    Those who don't learn from history won't go far in this era.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    So engaging and well written to bring out that genius in you!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A great book I would recommend to entrepreneurs who have determined to play offense and not just defense.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was hoping to hear more about AOLs making. Book gives a good insight of how the future looks wrt technology
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    "In the Third Wave, there will opportunities to innovate in every sector, touching every aspect of our lives. So think about how you can attack these old, often intractable problems in new ways.
    And remember this: The Internet of Everything will affect every aspect of our lives, in increasingly seamless ways. Use this tool for your advantage." (Steve Case, The Third Wave, Page 190-191)

    Written by billionaire, Steve Case. He currently has a net worth of 1.5 billion. However, during its heyday his company was worth over 160 billion. Which company was that? AOL (America Online). Some of you may well remember those discs that came in the mail with free trials and you had to insert them into your computer and then tie up your phone line to access the Internet? That's the one! The Author is one of the founders and CEO. Of course we know that AOL did not end well after broadband came along. Nevertheless, the Author did become wealthy because before AOL's demise he was smart enough to merge with Time Warner. He talks about this in this book. In retrospect, we can say, "what were they thinking?" Didn't they know that dial-up would one day become antiquated?

    I highly recommend that this book also be read with two other billionaire books that I have read: Ted Turner, Call Me Ted and Ted Leonsis, The Business of Happiness: 6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Life and Work. Both of these books will give you insight into the heights and demise of AOL from different perspectives.

    This book is not only about AOL, but it is about what the Author has labelled The Third Wave. He says there have been three waves of the Internet so far:

    FIRST WAVE
    1985-1999
    BUILDING THE INTERNET
    Laying the foundation for the online world

    SECOND WAVE
    2000-2015
    APP ECONOMY AND MOBILE REVOLUTION
    Search, social, and ecommerce startups grow on top of the Internet

    THIRD WAVE
    2016→
    INTERNET OF EVERYTHING
    Ubiquitous connectivity allows entrepreneurs to transform major, real-world sectors

    He gives a good example of a company in the Third Wave being Airbnb. He says of this, "Empower your team to ask questions and, where no answers exist, to create new ones. Give them the space to innovate and experiment. Take more "shots on goal." Allow more crazy ideas to bubble up, because the very best ideas often sound ridiculous when first proposed. Surely, executives at Marriott and Hilton would have thought that the idea of renting an air mattress or a room in an apartment was insane. But in 2015, seven years after starting, Airbnb was valued at $25 billion, making it worth more than either of the hospitality powerhouses, both of which have been around for more than half a century..." He calls these ideas "disruptors" to the way things have always been done.

    This was an interesting read. You will learn some history of AOL and his thesis on what is coming in the third wave of the Internet, that being all sectors will be transformed by the Internet, and how you can get in on the action too!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great book!!! The learnings from the beginning of his entrepreneurial career as small innovator to being part of an industry transformation is amazing! He has a way of reading what's coming from with we can all learn!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Interesting book. Great insight into the atmosphere at AOL when it was coming into its own and great perspective on where things are headed for the future.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What an amazing title this was! This has got to be the best book for entrepreneurs in 2018! Anyone who's looking for some guidance or direction regarding what business to start needs to read this book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I thought it was a good book. However, as someone who isn't American, I felt it was rather U.S.-centric. I'd have preferred a more global viewpoint. Nevertheless, it was quite informative.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It is an insightful read,every entrepreneur should read this book!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Short, crisp and full of new dataset important to predict future roadmap of innovation.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The good thing is that it’s the first time I hear about AOL story, some good insights, but the waves seams to be forced to fit the narrative.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Despite Case's stated desire at the start of the book, this is mostly a memoir, or at least the best parts are the parts that are memoir.The whole thing, including memoir, is more surface than substance. A reminder of where we've all been as the internet grew into what it is today, but no insider's insights.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The book is only partially about the internet; the other half is the story of AOL. Steve weaves his personal stories about his career and the history of America Online with his vision of how the internet evolved and where it is headed in the future. As someone who was involved from the beginning of the internet, he has good insight for both start-ups and existing companies on how to position themselves to succeed.Steve was influenced by Alvin Toffler’s book of the same title which was written back 1980, well-before the internet existed. In the book, Toffler divides the stages of human development into three waves: agricultural, industrial, and information. We are now in the information age which Steve divides into his own three waves: early internet, ie AOL and dial-up; the app economy, ie Apple and Google; and the third wave, “The Internet of Things.”While I was expecting this short book to be mostly about the internet, I didn’t mind the inclusion of the inside view of AOL and found it to be interesting listening. I remember when the Time-Warner merger happened, in retrospect a huge mistake and clash of corporate culture, and this appears to be Steve’s explanation of how and why it went wrong.Audio production:The narration is performed by the author, and while he does an adequate job, his voice is not as smooth or melodic as a professional reader, and the book suffers from sounding like a speech or lecture after an hour or so. Since the book was only five and a half hours long, I stuck with it because I was enjoying the content. Listen to the sample below to decide for yourself.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Part business memoir, part tech forecast AOL co-founder Steve Case takes the ideas behind Alvin Toffler’s landmark book; and one of Case’s personal favorites, and gives his ideas on how entrepreneurs can bring the world into the future. Case is pretty frank on his successes and his failures and is a great speaker that is able to tell his tale with a warm and encouraging voice.Free review copy.