Sebastian Mallaby, a journalist and author who previously wrote biographies of Alan Greenspan and hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, provides a comprehensive history of the venture capital industry from its origins to its current dominance of the technology economy. Mallaby argues that venture capital, often dismissed as merely providing money to startups, actually plays a distinctive role in nurturing transformative companies. He traces the industry from its emergence in postwar Boston through the rise of Silicon Valley, following firms including Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins as they funded companies from Apple to Google to Airbnb. The book explores how venture capitalists select investments, how they work with founders, and why their approach has proven so successful at building valuable companies. Mallaby examines the 'power law' that gives the industry its economics: a few spectacular successes compensate for many failures, making venture capital fundamentally different from other forms of investment. He also addresses criticisms, including venture capital's role in promoting disruption that destroys jobs and communities. Readers will find here both an engaging business history and an analysis of how innovation actually happens in the contemporary economy. Essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the forces shaping technology and business.