Roger McNamee

"If you had told Roger McNamee even three years ago that he would soon be devoting himself to stopping Facebook from destroying our democracy, he would have howled with laughter. He had mentored many tech leaders in his illustrious career as an investor, but few things had made him prouder, or been better for his fund's bottom line, than his early service to Mark Zuckerberg. Still a large shareholder in Facebook, he had every good reason to stay on the bright side. Until he simply couldn't. ZUCKED is McNamee's intimate reckoning with the catastrophic failure of the head of one of the world's most powerful companies to face up to the damage he is doing. It's a story that begins with a series of rude awakenings. First there is the author's dawning realization that the platform is being manipulated by some very bad actors. Then there is the even more unsettling realization that Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg are unable or unwilling to share his concerns, polite as they may be to his face."

Back in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, it was fairly easy to plan for a secure future. People picked a career, a spouse, and a place to live, and those basic decisions put them on a predictable course for the rest of their lives. Especially if they were lucky enough to land at a big corporation with great benefits and smart enough to buy stocks. In the 70s, 80s, and 90s, technology and global competition transformed the world. An increasingly strong economy masked spiraling instability in the workplace and the world. A rising stock market lulled people into thinking they were in control of their lives. But now we’ve entered a totally new era, which Roger McNamee calls the New Normal. It’s a time of great uncertainty—about terrorism, corporate scandals, the outsourcing of jobs overseas, and much more. The old safety nets aren’t coming back, even when the economy recovers. But the good news is that the New Normal also offers tremendous opportunities. This book—by one of Silicon Valley’s most insightful and successful investors—explains how to make the most of your life, career, and money by embracing the future. The New Normal is the era of the individual. In companies large and small, each person now matters more than ever before. The Internet has finally made it easy to launch and grow a real business. For entrepreneurs and managers, the global economy opens previously untapped sources of supply and demand, cost savings and innovation. Individual investors now have access to tools and knowledge that were, until recently, restricted to professionals. Roger McNamee has written a sweeping book in the tradition of Megatrends that clarifies this new era and gives readers a practical blueprint for success.

Zucked : Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe