Unicorns, Hype, and Bubbles

“I love tech, but not so blindly as to have overlooked the fact that it attracts an absurdly large proportion of available investment, and where the investor hype is often misplaced, mistimed or both. On the principle of ‘always invert,’ I don’t think you should merely read this excellent book, but also keep it within easy reach on your desk.”Rory Sutherland, Author of Alchemy and Vice-Chairman at Ogilvy UK

“This book explores how we often exaggerate the impact and value created by high-tech innovations, along with startups and at least some of the academic research and media reports. It is a thought-provoking review of technology fads and fashions, from the sharing economy to artificial intelligence and much more.”Michael A. Cusumano, SMR Distinguished Professor and former Deputy Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management, and Co-Author of The Business of Platforms

“Jeff Funk is an all-too-rare critical analyst who has seen beyond the fads, hype, and jargon to uncover critical weaknesses in the foundations and performance of our so-called innovation economy.”Daniel Sarewitz, Emeritus Professor of Science and Society, Arizona State University

“A wonderful book that is both educational and entertaining. Jeffrey Funk does a masterful job explaining how groupthink, greed, and hype lead to bubbles that gum up America’s great engine of growth—entrepreneurs with good ideas starting small businesses that sometimes grow into very large businesses.”Gary Smith, Fletcher Jones Professor of Economics at Pomona College and Author of more than ten books including Distrust: Big Data, Data-Torturing, and The Assault on Science