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Discuss the Book: Who Is Your Favorite Mogul?

So given the Twitters from a dozen or so people who tore through the book this weekend, it's time to start a series of discussion threads. (Yay!) They'll all be tagged under "Discuss the Book" so feel free to weigh in later, if you haven't started reading or -- gasp-- haven't gotten a copy yet. ;) I promise I will read every last one, and probably comment back to all of them too.

I always like to discuss books I've read-- I was a literature major after all-- so this is just for fun or in case anyone has questions for me. A book has certain disadvantages over a blog when it comes to interaction, so this is also a somewhat clumsy attempt to skirt that. If even one person responds, I'll keep posting questions for discussion once a week. If no one does, I'll cry. JK, but I will likely focus my energies on other posts.

I'm starting with the first question I always ask readers: Who is your favorite "character"? I have to put it in quotes, because these are actually all real people and the book is not fictionalized in any way. But because it's written in a narrative style, people who don't know them tend to talk about them as "characters." You can take this question in any way: who is the most inspiring, who is the most entertaining to read about, who do you love to hate.

So far, I should say most people I've asked feel they "know" Max Levchin the best, but the favorite -- particularly for people outside the Valley-- tends to be Jay "F--- the Sweater Vests" Adelson. What do you think?

The best answer will win a prize. By best I mean either articulate, surprising or, ahem, the only one. Prize TBD.  Maybe a Tech Ticker T-shirt, maybe a signed galley, maybe one of those annoying Yahoo! buttons that yodels when you press it, maybe my sxsw speaker's badge- ha ha.

Ok, ready, set, comment!

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My favorite mogul is Marc Andreessen--the guy who really started "the internet." How could you not like a guy that triple-encrypts his blacklist? He is the benchmark for Zuck, Kevin, and Max--and, he's showing them how to do it even now. He's pumping out new stuff like his Amway-like social network, Ning, and his intense blog postings. Thanks! I enjoyed your book!

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"Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky" puts a well-deserved spotlight on the fascinating entrepreneurs working in some of the most overlooked places on Earth. This book reminds us that when entrepreneurial opportunity is enabled and embraced locally, the economic and social benefits have the power to transform us all.
Brilliant. Crazy. Cocky.

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An unforgettable portrait of the emerging world's entrepreneurial dynamos Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky is the story about that top 1% of people who do more to change their worlds through greed and ambition than politicians, NGOs and nonprofits ever can. This new breed of self-starter is taking local turmoil and turning it into opportunities, making millions, creating thousands of jobs and changing the face of modern entrepreneurship at the same time. To tell this story, Lacy spent forty weeks traveling through Asia, South America and Africa hunting down the most impressive up-and-comers the developed world has never heard of....yet.

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Srah Lacy

Sarah Lacy is an award-winning reporter who has covered high-growth entrepreneurship for more than fifteen years. She is the founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of PandoDaily.com, the site-of-record for the startup ecosystem. She lives in San Francisco.

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