Ever feel like you’re just a passenger on a plane you didn't board? That’s what it was like being around Jim Clark. Michael Lewis wrote about this in The New New Thing, and honestly, the book is less about a guy and more about a fever dream that eventually became our reality.
You've probably heard of Netscape. Maybe you remember Silicon Graphics. But most people miss the point of what Clark was actually doing. He wasn't just building companies; he was basically rewriting the rules of how money works.
The Man Who Couldn't Sit Still
Jim Clark grew up poor in Plainview, Texas. He was a high school dropout. He was, by most accounts, a "problem child." Then the Navy accidentally discovered he was a math genius because of a standardized test.
Suddenly, the dropout becomes a Stanford professor. But Clark hated the academic life. He hated "the system." He hated being told what to do by people he thought were slower than him.
He didn't want to just make a better computer. He wanted the New New Thing.
What is that? It’s not just a new product. It’s an idea that is a tiny push away from changing everything. It’s the thing that makes the old thing look like a joke. In the 90s, that was the Internet.
Why The New New Thing Still Matters
People think Silicon Valley has always been about "disruption." It hasn't. Before Clark, you actually had to make a profit to be considered a success.
Michael Lewis captures the exact moment that flipped. Clark realized he didn't need to show a profit to the investment bankers on Wall Street. He just needed to show them the future.
- Silicon Graphics (SGI): He pioneered 3D graphics. Jurassic Park? That was SGI. But he got bored and left because he hated the "professional managers."
- Netscape: He saw Marc Andreessen’s Mosaic browser and realized the world was about to change. He didn't just start a company; he started the "Internet Formula."
- Healtheon: Now known as WebMD. He wanted to fix the entire $1.5 trillion healthcare industry with a few programmers and some web code.
It’s easy to look back and say, "Yeah, the internet was obvious." It wasn't. In 1994, it was a toy for nerds. Clark was the guy who convinced the world it was a gold mine.
The Boat That Built Netscape
The weirdest part of the book—and the most human—is the boat. The Hyperion.
It was a 157-foot sailboat, the tallest single-mast vessel in the world. But it wasn't really a boat. It was a giant, floating computer. Clark wanted to be able to sail it from his desk in San Francisco using a laptop.
There’s this incredible scene where they’re in the middle of the North Atlantic. The sensors fail. The boat’s computer thinks it’s in the middle of the Sahara Desert.
The engineers on board can't fix the engine because they only know how to look at the code. It’s a perfect metaphor for the era. Everyone was so focused on the digital future that they forgot how to deal with the physical world.
"Traditionally, a company persuaded people to invest in it by making profits. Now it persuaded people to invest in it first and hoped the profits would follow."
The Cultural Shift Nobody Talks About
Before Clark, the venture capitalists (VCs) held all the power. They were the "grown-ups." Clark changed that.
He realized that the engineers were the ones with the actual power. He started demanding more equity. He started telling the VCs how it was going to be.
He once refused to let a famous venture capitalist, Glen Mueller, invest in Netscape. Mueller eventually took his own life. Lewis mentions this to show how high the stakes were—and how cold the Valley could be.
It wasn't just business. It was a "Byronic quest" for wealth and relevance.
What We Can Learn Today
If you look at the AI boom today, it’s the same story.
We’re all looking for the next New New Thing. We’re investing in things that don't make money yet because we’re afraid of being left behind.
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Clark’s genius wasn't just technical. It was psychological. He knew that humans are more attracted to a potential future than a stable present.
Actionable Insights for the Modern Era:
- Cannibalize yourself: Clark always said a company needs to be willing to destroy its own products to find the next big thing. If you don't do it, someone else will.
- Bet on the "Pigs": Clark had an analogy about breakfast. The chicken is involved in the eggs, but the pig is committed to the ham. In business, you want the people who are fully committed.
- Focus on the friction: Healtheon was born because Clark saw how much paperwork was in a doctor's office. If you find a process that is slow, manual, and annoying, you’ve found a billion-dollar opportunity.
- The Future is a Sale: You don't sell what you have; you sell what the world will become.
Jim Clark doesn't look back. He has no interest in his past. He sold his shares in his companies almost as soon as he could. He was already looking for the next thing before the current one was even finished.
He didn't want to run a company. He wanted to prove he was right.
To really understand the modern economy, you have to understand this mindset. It's not about steady growth. It's about the "New New Thing" that changes the map entirely.
Next Steps for You
If you’re trying to apply these lessons to your own career or business, start by looking at your current industry's biggest "annoyance."
Where is there too much paperwork? What takes three days that should take three seconds? That’s where the next shift is hiding.
Read the book if you haven't. It’s a 268-page safari through the mind of a man who redefined American capitalism. Even though it was written in 1999, it’s more relevant now than ever.
Go find a process that’s broken and figure out how to automate it. That’s the Clark way.