GARCIA MARTINEZ, ANTONIO
An adrenaline-fuelled exposé of life inside the tech bubble, Chaos Monkeys lays bare the secrets, power plays and lifestyle excesses of the visionaries, grunts, sociopaths, opportunists and money cowboys who are revolutionising our world. Written by startup CEO and industry provocateur Antonio García Martínez, this is Liars Poker meets The Social Network. Computer engineers use chaos monkey software to wreak havoc and test system robustness. Similarly, tech entrepreneurs like Antonio Garcia Martinez are societys chaos monkeys their innovations disrupt every aspect of our lives, from transportation (Uber) and holidays (AirBnB) to television (Netflix) and dating (Tinder) all in search of the perfect business miracle. Describing himself as high-strung, fast-talking, and wired on a combination of caffeine, fear, and greed at all times, Garcia Martinez left Wall Street to make his fortune in Silicon Valley, becoming CEO of his own startup, before bailing and being poached by Facebooks nascent advertising team. In Chaos Monkeys he tells you HOW and HOW NOT to make a fortune through start-ups and online advertising. Highly entertaining and always offering genuine insight, García Martínez unravels the chaotic evolution of social media and online marketing. From startups and credit derivatives to Big Brother and data tracking, social media monetization and digital privacy, he shares both his scathing observations and outrageous antics, taking us on a subversive and very funny tour of the fascinatingly insular and unbelievably wealthy tech industry.
