The Power Law

Archival Summary & Scope

New York Times bestselling author Sebastian Mallaby, in *The Power Law*, delivers an astonishingly frank and intimate look inside Silicon Valley's dominant venture-capital firms, exploring how their strategies and fates have shaped global innovation and the economy. Mallaby reveals the "power law" driving the VC business—where a few massive successes compensate for numerous failures—through unprecedented access to key figures at legendary firms like Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, Accel, and Andreessen Horowitz, as well as rising Chinese partnerships.

This riveting blend of storytelling and analysis exposes the unvarnished truth behind iconic triumphs (Apple's birth) and infamous disasters (WeWork, Uber). Mallaby examines the industry's obsession with "unicorn" entrepreneurs, its systemic biases, and the explosive growth of China's VC sector. Ultimately, *The Power Law* illustrates how Silicon Valley venture capital, as the world's leading incubator, transforms ideas into the products and companies that define our future.

Shortlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year and named a Best Book of 2022 by The Economist, this book is hailed as "a classic...A book of exceptional reporting, analysis and storytelling" (Charles Duhigg) and "a must-read for anyone seeking to understand modern-day Silicon Valley" (Bethany McLean, The Washington Post).