Chaos Monkeys summary

Sure, life would be a lot easier if you could print your own money. But since this is a highly punishable crime, the next best thing would be to create a company like Google.

One of Silicon Valley’s greatest success stories, Google is a sensational money-making machine.

If you’re a thrill-seeker looking for a risky adventure, you might try bungee jumping or whitewater rafting. Or you could evade travel and the risk to your body by investing in a start-up.

Chances are, you won’t have any trouble finding an opportunity, since start-ups are always looking for risk-friendly investors.

Many parents dream of having children who’ll grow up to be both successful and truly kind. These parents might not want their children to enter the start-up world. There, success is most definitely not the result of niceness.

As we’ll see, both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs used rather ruthless methods on the path to riches.

Okay, so billionaire tech giants like Gates and Jobs also do have a reputation for being rather smart. But if you want to make it in the world of Silicon Valley, there are other qualities that trump intelligence.

One of these qualities – perhaps the most important when launching a start-up – is obsessiveness.

The kind of determination and will-to-win shown by Martinez is contagious. And, in the history of start-ups, there is perhaps no better example of an obsessively dedicated team rising to a challenge than what happened at Facebook’s headquarters in 2011.

That was the year Google challenged Facebook’s status as the premier social platform with the launch of Google Plus.

Some of Facebook’s major battles have been widely reported on. But, behind the scenes, there is a constant series of skirmishes, and a team of employees who are always in the fray, protecting Facebook’s customers.

If you have Facebook, you probably use it to keep in touch with friends and play games and stay abreast of current events. But you’re probably unaware that, while you’re checking out photos and chatting with pals, Facebook’s security team is shielding you from disturbing content.