Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Amazon Prime includes:
Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.
Amazon Prime members enjoy:- Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
- Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
- Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
- A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
- Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
- Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access
Important: Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.
-20% $13.66$13.66
Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com
$9.07$9.07
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: The BAP Goods
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
OK
Audible sample Sample
The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley Paperback – February 4, 2012
Purchase options and add-ons
Can we replicate that magic in other places?
Discover the answers in this groundbreaking book from two of the world's leading experts at the intersection of venture capital and global development. Victor W. Hwang and Greg Horowitt propose a radical new theory to explain the nature of innovation ecosystems: human networks that generate extraordinary creativity and output. They argue that free market thinking fails to consider the impact of human nature on the innovation process. This ambitious work challenges the basic assumptions that economists have held for over a century.
The authors argue that innovation ecosystems – what they call Rainforests – can only thrive when certain cultural behaviors unlock human potential. Their theory of the Rainforest is influenced by several breakthrough ideas in academia, including insights on sociobiology from Harvard, economic transactions from the University of Chicago, and design theory from Stanford.
With an unorthodox and entertaining narrative, the book reveals the mysterious mechanisms of Rainforests. Furthermore, the authors provide practical tools for readers to design, build, and sustain new innovation communities. The Rainforest will transform the way you think about technology, business, and leadership.
- Print length304 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateFebruary 4, 2012
- Dimensions6.14 x 0.69 x 9.21 inches
- ISBN-109780615586724
- ISBN-13978-0615586724
Books with Buzz
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more
Frequently bought together
Customers who bought this item also bought
Editorial Reviews
From Kirkus Reviews
Review
"I thought I was planting seeds, but I have been planting weeds. This amazing book relates innovations to random propagations of life in the rainforest. I haven't read a book this innovative since Bionomics." --Tim Draper, Founder and Managing Director of the Draper Fisher Jurvetson Rainforest
"A well-written book with a valuable empirical and multi-disciplinary approach." --Prof. Ronald Coase, Nobel Laureate in Economics, University of Chicago
"The Rainforest - a book filled with passion, energy and wisdom - bubbles over with energizing insights and practical advice for policymakers, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists around the world. Drawing on their deep experience as entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, as well as some of the most advanced research in the social and psychological sciences, Victor Hwang and Greg Horowitt use the analogy of the rainforest to clearly explain the complex evolutionary interactions that must exist... Few issues could be more important for the United States and for developing countries..." --Richard Foster, Former Director and Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
"Everyone's glooming and dooming, and this is literally the blueprint for the new world." --Daryl Browne, entrepreneur
"Every once in a while, a business book with a big idea that defines a way of thinking comes along. Such books as Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore and Jim Collins’s Good to Great come to mind. The Rainforest feels like one of those books." -- ForeWord Reviews
"Offering a challenge to traditional economic wisdom, The Rainforest is a much recommended read for those who want to better understand the intersection of economics, innovation, and business success."-- Midwest Book Review
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : 0615586724
- Publisher : Regenwald; 1.02 edition (February 4, 2012)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780615586724
- ISBN-13 : 978-0615586724
- Item Weight : 15.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.14 x 0.69 x 9.21 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #374,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Victor is an economic growth expert. His ideas have shaped the economic lives of millions of people worldwide.
His work has helped over 300 communities, cities, states, companies, and even entire countries in creating greater economic prosperity.
His economic development clients have included the World Bank, Ford Foundation, Inter-American Development Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. He has also worked with corporate clients seeking to grow entrepreneurial innovation, including Accenture, IBM, and Microsoft.
He is founder and CEO of Victor & Company, an economic growth consultancy.
He is founder and CEO of Right to Start, a campaign fighting to break barriers to entrepreneurial opportunity for all.
Previously, he was Vice President of Entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation, the world’s leading philanthropy supporting entrepreneurs with an endowment of $2 billion. At Kauffman, he led initiatives that impacted over 200,000 entrepreneurs, including efforts in catalyzing capital formation, transforming economic development practices, launching a national policy roadmap, and breaking barriers for underserved entrepreneurs.
Victor has created two leading conferences on unleashing innovation and entrepreneurship: Global Innovation Summit and ESHIP Summit. The Global Innovation Summit became Silicon Valley’s leading conference on building innovative economies, with over 1,000 delegates from 50 nations. The ESHIP Summit, during Victor’s term at the Kauffman Foundation, became the nation’s leading conference on building entrepreneurial communities, with over 1,200 attendees from all 50 states and over 100 mayors and key staff.
Victor was co-founder and CEO of the startup Liquidity, a Silicon Valley venture-backed firm making safe drinking water filtration based on nanotech manufacturing. He led the company through product launch, early revenues, and winning the TechCrunch Disrupt startup competition.
He was CEO and co-founder of T2 Venture Creation, a venture firm that built startup companies and designed ecosystems that fostered entrepreneurial innovation in dozens of countries and cities.
He was President and Chief Operating Officer of Larta Institute, an organization commercializing technology from key government agencies, such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
He was chief strategy officer of Veatros, a video startup where he led the company’s acquisition by a public company.
Victor practiced corporate and technology law with the firms of Mayer, Brown & Platt and Irell & Manella.
He has been a contributing columnist to Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, and Entrepreneur, and his opinions have been cited in The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, among others.
National Public Radio named his graduation address to Austin Community College one of “the best commencement speeches ever.”
Victor pioneered the use of the metaphor “rainforest” in a business context. He applied it to show how communities can replicate the historical innovation dynamics of Silicon Valley. His co-authored book, The Rainforest, was awarded Book of the Year, Gold Medal, by ForeWord Reviews for “a big idea that defines a way of thinking.”
Victor received his bachelors degree (with honors) from Harvard University, where he studied Government, plus additional studies in Computer Science. He received his law degree from the University of Chicago.
Greg Horowitt is a serial entrepreneur, lecturer, and advisor to governments and economic development organizations around the world including the U.S. State Department, Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), and Aspen Institute. In addition, he is co-founder of Global CONNECT, a think tank based at the University of California, San Diego, which focuses on the development and growth of innovation economies.
Under his leadership, Global CONNECT has grown to encompass one of the world’s largest networks of innovation hubs: more than 40 programs in 20 countries. He was formerly the interim Managing Director of CONNECT, an organization which is generally credited with San Diego’s success as a technology leader. He is also a lecturer and advisor to UC San Diego’s Rady MBA Ventures Program.
He has served as Entrepreneur-in-Residence for a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, and was President and CEO of a venture-backed enterprise software company in Silicon Valley. Before that, he held senior executive positions with a Berkshire Hathaway portfolio company, Fechheimer. Greg graduated with high honors in Biochemistry, (and minors in Economics and Music Performance), from the University of California, San Diego.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
The Rainforest by Victor w. Hwang and Greg Horowitt
"When we think of innovation systems, we should not try to force individual innovations into existence, but we should try to design and shape the proper environment that cultivates such innovations to be born."
"The oddballs are the game changers in the innovations systems. In Rainforests, we want to nurture the weeds to grow."
First Rainforest Axiom #1: While plants are harvested most efficiently on farms, weeds sprout best in Rainforests.
A Rainforest is a human ecosystem in which human creativity, business acumen, scientific discovery, investment capital and other elements come together in a special recipe that nurtures budding ideas so they can grow into flourishing and sustainable enterprises.
Why did ProFusion fail. "The answer lies in their respective cultural environments. Yahoo---(Had) access --- to human relationships.
All the raw science and engineering talent in the world does not necessarily produce companies that can grow and thieve in the market place.
Rainforest Axiom #2: Rainforests are built from the bottom up, where irrational economic behavior reigns.
Rainforest Axiom #3: What we typically think of as free markets are actually not free.
Rainforest Axiom #4: Social barriers- caused by geography, networks, culture, language, and distrust - create transaction cost that stifle valuable relationships before they can be born.
Rainforest Axiom #5: The vibrancy of a Rainforest correlates to the number of people in a network and their ability to connect to with one another
Rainforest Axiom #6: High social barriers outside of close circles of family and friends are the norm in the world.
"we focus on ideas, talent and capital"
Key Stone - integrative, influential, impactful
Rainforest Axiom #7: Rainforests depend on people who actively bridge social distances and connect disparate parties together.
Rainforest Axiom #8: People in Rainforests are motivated for reasons that defy traditional economic notions of "rational" behavior.
Rainforest Axiom #9: Innovations and human emotion are intertwined.
Rainforest Axiom #10: The greater the diversity in human specialization, the greater the potential value of exchanges in a system
Rainforest Axiom #11: The instincts that once helped our ancestors survive are hurting our ability to maximize innovation today.
Rainforest Axiom #12: Rainforest have replaced tribalism with a culture of informal rules that allow strangers to work together efficiently on temporary projects
Rainforest Axiom #13: The informal rules that govern Rainforest cause people to restrain their short-term self-interest for long-term mutual gain.
Rainforest Axiom #14: Rainforests function when the combined value of social norms and extra-rational motivations outweigh the human instincts to fear.
Victor and Greg have done an incredibly fine job in shaping the content to change this mindset. A chapter in this book "Capital in the Rainforest" points out that mutualism (where both sides benefit) and that V is always bigger than C (as in the entrepreneur matters more than the money). At the heart of this book, the authors are deeply spiritual thought leaders. They say that "making more by owning less" is possible. They essentially debunk the VC approach that early stage means more ownership = higher IRR. They offer elegant and fresh solutions like subsidized capital and 'balancing of interests.'
Strongly recommended for policy makers, economic developers and VCs alike - it will change the way you see startups and your ecosystem. It will make you a responsible member of the forest.
For those that work in Venture Capital, Research, Corporate Development, and other Entrepreneurial endeavors, cycles wax and wane with the next great theory that will explain what delivers success and what leads to failure. The RainForest creates not only a compelling theory backed by quantitative logic, but also weaves the most important element of human dynamics into an actionable narrative.
Long ago Kevin Kelley talked about innovation taking place on the edge of biological ecosystems and sustaining innovation required catalysts be introduced to provide the necessary nutrients for growth. The authors have demonstrated this insight applies to all ecosystems. Additionally, they share their insights on the process by which this occurs and built a compelling roadmap for the journey.
I'm looking forward to sharing this book with all my colleagues who live in the innovation ecosystem both in large enterprises and in the start-up community.
This book speaks to changes in culture, in the importance of lowering social barriers and alterations of perspective that are required to bring about the extensive (and often prohibitively difficult) collaboration that is necessary to create self sustaining innovative environments. It challenges ideas that innovation can be "engineered" from the top down and rather presents it as an organic growth, a symbiosis of tacit social contracts. True innovation comes from maximizing serendipity, it cannot be predicted, it cannot be engineered, but its conditions can be fostered. This book will change your perspective on how to enter into collaborative environments, how to interact with diverse parties, and how to change your attitude and behavior to benefit a system (and consequently yourself) that spawns truly revolutionary innovations.