How the Web Won
Reviews
“I doubt if anyone has had a greater impact on how people persuade, influence, and sell online than Ken.”
– Drayton Bird, Author of Common Sense Direct and Digital Marketing. Former Worldwide Creative Director and Vice Chairman, Ogilvy Direct
“God knows how many billions his alumni have made. Nobody anywhere has had such an impact. Read this book and understand before your competitors do.”
“Like getting a peek at the early side of the Big Bang…”
– Steve O’Keefe, Author of Publicity on the Internet, personally tutored Jeff Bezos on the fine points of how to sell books online
“There was a turning point when people first saw the web, saw how it was all going to work, and instantly, everything changed. McCarthy was in the right rooms in the right cities at the right times with the right people to see that moment being birthed. It’s like getting a peek at the early side of the Big Bang…
For anyone curious how the web really came to be, How the Web Won provides an accurate, 360-degree view of the magic moment that will keep you engaged — and hoping for a sequel.”
“The man who built the bridge from offline to digital marketing…”
– Robert W. Bly, Author, marketing consultant, veteran copywriter
“No one has crossed the bridge from old-school direct response marketing to the new digital marketing world more successfully, completely, and authoritatively than Ken McCarthy. In fact, he did not just cross this bridge; Ken was one of its foremost architects and builders. Whether you are an old mail order guy like me or a GenX/Y/Z marketer, you will love and learn from this book–sage advice and deep wisdom, as lived by the author for decades in the real world of business and commerce.“
“We are fortunate to have among us THE visionary pioneer who recognized what the World Wide Web really was and what it would become.”
– Dan Kennedy, Consultant and author of the No BS business series (over 1 million copies sold)
“Before just about anybody, Ken McCarthy saw it as ad media. He tells all. I urge getting it and reading it.
He was there at its birth, is respected (and reviled) as a very stubborn truth-teller about it and has done a fantastic job with this book. From it, you can actually understand what you are using! And he has his book title correct; IT won. “
“Fascinating, funny, and wildly entertaining.”
– Jonathan Mizel, CEO, Cyberwave Media Inc., online business entrepreneur and thought leader since 1993
“Ken McCarthy takes you through the twists and turns of the early pioneers who saw the future, and then created the biggest social and business change since the Industrial Revolution.“
“A rare look at the decisions and events that shaped the internet into the commercial hub it is today…”
– Robert Skrob, CEO, Membership Service, Inc. Author of Retention Point and The Connector Effect
“This book offers a rare look at the decisions and events that shaped the internet into the commercial hub it is today. The book stands apart by detailing the behind-the-scenes moments that drove innovation, highlighting how bold ideas and persistent efforts brought the web to life as a global marketplace.
This work is both informative and actionable, showing how the principles behind the web’s growth remain relevant for entrepreneurs and marketers. McCarthy recounts key developments such as the introduction of banner ads, the first browser, and the rise of direct response marketing. These insights are presented in a way that connects past breakthroughs with strategies anyone can apply today.
McCarthy breaks down complex concepts with clarity, making them applicable to modern business challenges. Plus, you’ll appreciate how the biggest internet titans today were created by ordinary people who chose to seize the opportunities before them.
The book goes beyond storytelling, serving as a guide for anyone navigating today’s digital economy. It reminds readers that understanding foundational principles is essential for leveraging new opportunities. How the Web Won is essential reading for those ready to adapt and thrive.”
“An epic tale, well and conversationally told, offering deep-but-accessible insight into the evolution of our information superhighway.”
– The Chronogram Magazine, Anne Pyburn Craig
“In the early 1990s, Tivoli resident Ken McCarthy was part of a small group that drove the internet’s transformation into its current, advertising-funded free-for-all, winning out against the forces who’d have preferred it to stay niche and nonprofit and others who wanted to monopolize it as their private profitable niche, and he makes a strong case for why that outcome—no matter how annoying those pop-ups may get—was the best-case scenario.
How it all went down is an epic tale, well and conversationally told, offering deep-but-accessible insight into the evolution of our information superhighway.“
“Fascinating and hard-hitting.”
– Richard Koch, Author of the million-copy bestsellerThe 80/20 Principle
“A stand-out read.”
– BookLife (a division of Publishers Weekly)
“A stand-out read. McCarthy’s unique perspective and experience contributing to launching the World Wide Web brings decisive insight and authority to a lesser-known subject.
This slice of history hits at rarely discussed moments of ingenuity and invention, as McCarthy confronts myths about the web’s development, the evolution of its early equipment, and the funding sources that kickstarted its financial success… delivering remarkable accounts of a global phenomenon that transformed contemporary life.“
“5 out of 5 stars – If Michael Lewis and David Foster Wallace collaborated on a history of the Web’s formative years…”
– Nick L.
“I can’t possibly overstate how great this book is.
Think of the best of “Liar’s Poker” and “Infinite Jest” rolled into one book.
On one level, it’s a detailed and comprehensive account of the critical formative years of the Web (1993-1995) by someone who not only was there, but at times helped drive the bus.
There is no other history on this subject like it. When you consider all the things that run on the Web – Amazon, Google, and the many social media platforms, and the myriad of Internet services we use every day – that alone would be significant.
On another level, the footnotes and end notes are a whole book unto themselves and contain a subversive narrative readers might be surprised to hear coming from an Internet business pioneer.
Finally, the book is a meditation on the role chance and naive striving play in the unfolding of history. It reveals the fragile roots of many developments, like the Web, that we incorrectly assume were “inevitable”, but in reality could easily have never happened.
The chapter on what the online world would be like had the Web not thrived and Bill Gates’ Microsoft Network won the online war (a war most people didn’t realize was being fought) is scarily plausible. You’ll never look at the Internet the same way after you read this book.”
“Easily one of the single greatest books about marketing I’ve ever read…”
– Ben Settle, Author, Book and Newsletter Publisher
“The single most valuable book about online marketing ever published
I used to say the single most valuable book about online marketing I ever read (over 50 times by now) was Ken McCarthy’s magnificent “System Club Letters” book.
It was literally my bathroom reading for 8 years straight.
And I daresay it made that sacred reading chamber the most profitable square footage in town.
But another book might just have knocked it out of 1st place.
In some ways, this other book is even more valuable and important than the System Club Letters. And I believe anyone and everyone who has anything to do with online marketing can benefit enormously from reading it — both in the short term (lots of great practical and immediately useful/profitable marketing tips) and in the long run of your business (big thinking strategical approach to business and marketing).
The book I speaketh of?
Happens to be another Ken McCarthy book that is like his 9th Symphony:
“How The Web Won”
I don’t even know if I can do this book justice in a review like this.
So I will just say this:
While reading it I kept pausing to take notes and then email Ken personally to let him know my thoughts, taking my time to savor it chapter by chapter, and enjoying the process of how it elevated my own thinking on not just selling online but how to approach problem solving, see opportunities where nobody else does, and using history to predict what could be coming down the pike.
None of these lessons are spelled out though.
There are no listicles or checklists or “how to” sections.
The gold is “between the lines” of a story so captivating it could be a movie or docudrama.
Frankly, it almost even reads like a screenplay in some ways.
In my opinion:
Cavemen (like me) will definitely enjoy it — but also the tech bros & zoomers who grew up with an iPhone in their hands will also love it, too, because it will teach you how to think big, see possibilities in every line of code that can potentially shake up entire industries right before your eyes, and/or inspire you to create better software, hardware, tools, apps, solutions, info products, whatever it is you sell (digital or physical or services).
More:
The book reminds me of something David Bullock said in an interview with Glenn Livingston way back in 2006. He said he watches The Matrix probably once per month. And each time it made him realize the question isn’t really “what can you do in your business?” but “what CAN’T you do?” and then he’d apply that to his marketing, testing, etc — presumably seeing infinite possibilities in even the smallest of things 999 out of 1000 people would ignore, scoff at, or think is irrelevant.
That is what Ken’s book has been doing for my own thinking.
And it’s bringing me back in touch with marketing in ways I haven’t experienced in 20 years.
Again, none of this is spelled out.
You have to read the book, think about it, and ask questions as you go through it.
But the most interesting part of the book?
I think everyone will get something different out of it as far as what is most interesting about it. But, for me it is how the founding of the commercialization of the internet (what the book is “about” on the surface, but it is about much more than that) in some ways parallels the founding of the United States as described in George Washington’s biography.
It’s what makes reading it such a movie-like experience:
You will notice dozens of seemingly unrelated people, places, events, and historical/corporate/technological anomalies… all mysteriously connected (think the TV show “LOST”, it’s almost that surreal)… where if any one of these events or conversations had not happened, precisely when they happened… or without the specific people involved… the internet as you know it, and your ability to freely sell on it, may have never happened at all. Or if it did, it’d almost certainly be something horrifying and evil and probably prohibitively expensive everyone would despise.
(With Bill Gates controlling, gatekeeping, bureaucratizing it, making you buy a license to use and/or sell on it, etc.)
Kind of mind boggling to think about.
And if nothing else, you’ll far more appreciate what you got.
Anyway, I’ll just end with this:
I’ve known Ken McCarthy since 2005. Since then I’ve written sales copy for him, worked with him, taught at a couple of his events, and have sold his offers. I am probably his biggest advocate. And even I had no idea just how fascinating his story is of how he went from a broke tech writer to becoming the founding father of online advertising as we know it – who Google, Facebook, and any other big tech platforms who get paid via click thru metrics should be on their knees thanking for discovering & pioneering.
I highly recommend reading it and then letting it influence your marketing, your business, and your thinking.”
“I knew Ken was a pioneer, but I didn’t realize just how far ahead of everyone else he really was.”
– Ryan Healy, Direct Response Copywriter
“Back in 1994 Ken McCarthy had a surprisingly prescient view of where the World Wide Web was headed. I mean, I knew he was a pioneer (I attended The System Seminar in 2003 when Gary Halbert spoke), but I didn’t realize just how far ahead of everyone else he really was.
This book (part history, part memoir) takes you back to the time of AOL and 14.4K dial-up Internet. It’s a wild trip down memory lane. Of course, there are many stories I didn’t know about, so I enjoyed filling the gaps in my knowledge.
It’s fascinating how many prominent people didn’t understand the true potential of the Internet. Bill Gates, for example. He was obsessed with CD-ROMs as the path to the future. Yes, CD-ROMs had their place for a brief moment in history… until rapidly growing Internet bandwidth made them obsolete.
Also interesting to learn how advertising fueled the growth of the Web. It was the one way to pay for all the content, domains, hosting, etc. Today, advertising still fuels the Web.
In between the stories of the early days of the Web McCarthy drops some nuggets about marketing and advertising, a couple of which I marked and shared. For example, on page 68:
‘The fact of the matter is that many, many, many highly lucrative businesses and professions are deadly boring. Making money is not about you being entertained. It’s about making money, which at the end of the day is profitably providing a standardized product or service to the largest number of people possible at the highest profit margins possible. It’s creating a machine and then showing up every day to turn the wheel.’
If you’re an Internet marketer or use the Internet for business, then I suspect you’ll greatly enjoy this book. Grab a copy and read it.“
