To Michael Salort, I owe a heartfelt expression of gratitude for first calling on me to help produce a documentary film about Danny, which we screened in a private tribute held at Akamai on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Mike’s unflagging belief in the beauty of Danny’s story and my ability to tell it helped me through the more challenging moments of my reporting and writing.
For the facts and colorful anecdotes I needed to chronicle Akamai’s beginnings and wild ride through the dot-com boom and bust I credit several current and former employees of the company, all of whom agreed to interviews in the interest of expanding Danny’s legacy. In particular I thank Paul Sagan, who recounted stories in the kind of detail that only a former newsman could. Paul also responded, always promptly and good-naturedly, to my many emails filled with follow-up questions.
Jeff Young, who heads Akamai’s media relations, helped a great deal in my reporting of company milestones, clarifying seemingly conflicting facts and tracking down the company’s archival photographs and press material. George Conrades shared stories about Danny with the perspective of a seasoned executive who also loved speed. Laura Malo and Nancy Henry kindly managed all my queries for interviews with Akamai executives. Laura also dug up old photographs and many stories of her own.
John Sconyers always made himself available to answer my queries about Akamai’s first customers and the race to sign them up. Melanie Wynkoop candidly recalled the exhilarating, exhausting buzz at the company before and after its IPO and the intensity of working with Danny. Mike Afergan vividly recalled the story of his first day of work, when Danny assigned him to spearhead a major project with Apple. Lior Netzer gave much of his time to interviews, thoughtfully expounding on Danny’s character not only as a co-worker, but also as a proud Israeli and soldier in the elite unit of Sayeret Matkal.
Thanks also to David Judson, who agreed to a difficult interview in which he detailed his conversation with Danny on the morning of 9/11, less than an hour before he was killed on American Airlines Flight 11.
I’m grateful to the many former employees of Akamai who gave willingly of their time for this book, beginning with Jonathan Seelig. Jonathan was the first to explain the dizzying concept of consistent hashing to me on a whiteboard, which required a good deal of patience. Jonathan also endured a few lengthy interviews, and spoke freely of his friendship with Danny, which formed before the legendary 50K competition at MIT.
Earl Galleher carved out the hours for interviews in both Cambridge and Washington, D.C., and served up some of the most entertaining anecdotes for inclusion in the book. With his characteristic humor and candor, Earl described the early days at Akamai with much-appreciated flare, summing the time up with words that stuck with me: “We just knew we’d never have another experience like that.”
I’m also grateful to Julia Austin, who shared her experience as one of the few female employees of Akamai to have worked directly and regularly with Danny, often clashing with him, but also admiring him greatly and appreciating his friendship. And to Will Koffel, Yoav Yerushalmi, Sef Kloninger, Bill Bogstad and Randall Kaplan—all of whom provided colorful details about their experience at Akamai.
There were many people who worked directly with Danny whose memories and thoughts informed this book. They include Art Bilger at Shelter Capital Partners, Todd Dagres at Spark Capital, Glenn Kaino at OWN and Gil Friesen, the legendary entertainment executive, who sadly passed away before the completion of this book.
Some of Akamai’s early customers gave me invaluable details about how Danny and other company executives won them over, including Randy Dragon (Disney), David Filo (Yahoo), Sam Gassel (CNN), Farzod Nazem (Yahoo), Sean Moriarity (Ticketmaster), and Eric Schvimmer (The Washington Post). I am especially grateful to Sam Gassel, who painstakingly recalled the crush of Web traffic on 9/11, when CNN’s Internet operations had to rely heavily on Akamai to deliver news of the tragedy worldwide.
And I am hugely indebted to Dwight Gibbs, formerly of The Motley Fool. Dwight dropped everything to reminisce about Danny, ending many of our long interviews—after which I apologized for taking up so much of his time—with the heartfelt statement: “Anything for Danny.” Dwight also helped me explain, in layman’s terms, exactly how the Internet works—stripping some of my early drafts of unnecessarily complex detail.
Chris Pasko at Blackstone Advisory Partners walked me through every step of Akamai’s historic IPO, which he led for Morgan Stanley. Chris kindly offered to read a few early drafts of this chapter of the story, which he edited with much thought and precision.
For taking me back to the atmosphere at MIT’s renowned Lab for Computer Science in the mid-90s—specifically to the Theory group class of 1996—I credit Be Blackburn, Yevgeniy Dodis, Eric Lehman, Anna Lysyanskaya, Rina Pinagrahy, Amit Sahai and Salil Vadhan. Thanks also to Mark Gorenberg of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, who shared his recollections of Akamai’s performance at the 50K competition.
In Israel, in addition to the Lewin family, I am indebted to Professor Freddy Bruckstein at the Technion. More than two decades after Danny began classes at the university in Haifa, Freddy remembered Danny as a student and friend. Freddy was also kind enough to introduce me to Haifa; I’ll never forget the sunset over Mount Carmel. I also thank Dan Perry at the Associated Press and Stephen Miller in the office of Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, who both greeted me in Israel and helped me to map out my travel there. And a sincere expression of gratitude to Mayor Barkat, who took time out of his demanding schedule to share his thoughts on Danny’s Israeli spirit, entrepreneurism and heroism on 9/11.
Also helping me to refine and insert detail into a story that transpired more than a decade ago were several of Danny’s former co-workers at IBM’s Research Lab in Haifa and friends/acquaintances in Israel, including (in alphabetical order) Roni El-Bahar, Orli Gann, Yuval Ishai, Moshe Levingale, Dean Lorenz, Ziv Maniawski, Brad Rephen, Meir Samson, Ronen Sarig and Shmuel Ur.
The creation of any book, of course, is a process—at times a highly collaborative one. I could not have seen this story to print without the help and expertise of several people, beginning with my agent, Nathaniel Jacks at Inkwell Management. Nat read one of my magazine features, tracked me down using social media, and asked me if I had any ideas for a book. Two years later, we have a book. Thank you, Nat, for pushing me to take the leap and write, and for diligently working to find a home for this story.
To everyone at my publisher, Da Capo Press, thank you, thank you... First to my editor, John Radziewicz, for his editorial wisdom and for the important, sage reminder that a great book is never really finished. To Jonathan Crowe, formerly of Da Capo, who enthusiastically supported my proposal from its inception. Also thanks to Fred Francis, Justin Lovell, Kevin Hanover, Sean Maher, and Kate Burke for serving as the force behind this book. Finally to freelance editor Marco Pavia, who stepped in during the last mile and shepherded the book, and the author, through the difficult final stretch with such good humor, encouragement, and patience. Mille grazie!
To the friends and extended family who expressed faith in me throughout the book-writing process, I am blessed and lucky to have you in my court. A special shout out to Jamie Stiehm, my dear friend and writing companion at the Georgetown Public Library, for a year of stellar support, counsel and brainstorming sessions over afternoon espressos.
I am also indebted to the discerning readers who bravely dove into a manuscript in the rough, taking the time to edit and share feedback. They include my mother, author Amy Knight, who caught errors even the best copyeditors could not have found at the last hour; Kari Niles, dear friend, talented writer and my arbiter of good literary taste; and veteran journalist and award-winning author Jim Wooten, who broke from his own writing to read my manuscript not just once, but three times, and offer invaluable feedback and encouragement.
A gesture of thanks also to research assistant Jasmine Adams at Georgetown University, and to Dan Monken at the US Army War College for inviting me to s
peak at the awards event in Danny’s honor.
For never failing to communicate the sentiment that my successes are also theirs, I thank my parents, Malcolm and Amy Knight. While raising three spirited girls my Mom managed to write five books, and my Dad traveled to and worked in what seemed like every corner of the world. I’m still not sure how they did it, but I know they proved to me that anything is possible with drive, curiosity and passion. I also owe a lot to my sisters, Diana and Allie Knight, for their support. Diana, thank you for accompanying me on a whirlwind, unforgettable reporting trip to Israel. And to my amazing extended family—Maggie and Buzz, who swept in during my absences and long work hours to help run the ship at home and care for our little girls. I could not have done this without your unflagging love and support.
For making this book possible, I thank my husband and best friend, Matt Raskin, for his tireless support of all my creative endeavors. During every stage of the book-writing process he stuck with me, pushing me when I faltered and counseling me when I crashed. Thank you for believing in me, and for understanding better than anyone why it is I need to write. And, finally, to the sunshine in my life: Sophie and Claire. The two of you inspire me not only to be a better Mom, but also a better journalist and citizen of the world. This book is for you.
Index
ABC.com, 211
About.com, 160
Abramson, Roger, 32
Adero, Inc., 95
Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), 6, 12, 47
The Advent of the Algorithm (Berlinski), 60
Afergan, Mike, 163, 221
AIG. See American International Group
Akamai, x, 83
Apple and, 136–138, 171
Austin at, 162
bake off, 172
Battery Ventures investment in, 107
beta testers, 116
Bilger on, 180
business model of, 94–95, 120–123, 126–127
Cambridge staff of, 124
CEO search of, 148–149
Cisco and, 166–167
CNN and, 132–133, 211–212
competing businesses, 157–158
Conrades at, 152–153, 216
Crosbie pitching, 78–80
customer service of, 115, 145, 159–160
Dagres on, 93–94, 106
Disney and, 125–127
employees of, 104, 108, 146
European Operations, 183
founding of, 76–77
Friesen on, 101–102
funding, 100, 103–107, 111, 153
Galleher at, 120–121, 123–124
glitches in, 117
Greenberg at, 118–119
growth of, 161–162
guiding principles of, 153
Infoseek and, 127–128
infrastructure, 124
IPO, 154–155, 157, 171–176, 178–179
Jobs, S., and, 138
Kaplan at, 108
Koffel at, 156–157
layoffs at, 196, 199–200
Leighton, T., at, 92–93, 95–96, 108, 115–116, 125, 182
Lewin, D., at, 76–77, 95–96, 101–102, 108, 115–116, 143
Lewin, D., death of, and, 215
lockups, 186–187
long-term viability of, 179–180
Microsoft and, 166–167
MIT and, 154–155, 176–177
Motley Fool and, 134–135
moving, 107
on NASDAQ, 185–186
on 9/11, 209–210
office environment at, 146–147
Playboy and, 121–122
profitability of, 217
prospectus drafting, 173
public relations of, 160
road show, 173–174
Sagan, P., at, 106, 124
Sandpiper and, 157–158
Sconyers at, 122, 123, 146
Seelig at, 94–95, 108, 112
servers of, 111–112, 117, 124
SLA of, 126–127
splintering of, 89
success of, 221
Akamai (continued)
team building for, 77–78
value of, 153–154, 178–179, 188–190, 197, 199
Venrock investment in, 107
Wynkoop at, 147–148
Yahoo and, 129–130, 171
Young at, 160–161
Akamai Foundation, 189
Akamai Resource Locator (ARL), 114, 133
Akers, John, 150
Alcatel-Lucent, 84
Aldeman, Leonard, 11
Algorithms, 59, 113–114
in computer science, 60–61
Knuth on, 61–62
parallel, 41, 48
randomized, 12–13
Turing using, 60
Viterbi, 11
See also Mathematics
Algorithms Research Group, 84
Lewin, D., at, 90–92
Aliyah, 27, 30, 198
Allen, Paul, 125
Alpert, Herb, 102
Altair, 26
A&M, 102
Amazon.com, 76, 141, 221
America Online (AOL), 17, 129, 172
American Airlines Flight 11, x, 201, 217
American International Group (AIG), 74
Amherst, 162
AOL. See America Online
AOL-TimeWarner, 211
Apache, 77
Apollo Computer, 78
Apple, 128, 163, 190
Akamai and, 136–138, 171
Apple II computer, 26, 28
Arafat, Yasir, 37
ARL. See Akamai Resource Locator
Army War College, U.S., 220
ARPA. See Advanced Research Projects Agency
ARPANET, 7
The Art of Computer Programming (Knuth),
62
Artificial Intelligence Lab, 49
Ask Jeeves, 82
Associated Press, 20
Association for Computing Machinery, 1
AT&T, 90, 126
Atta, Mohamed, 203
Austin, Julia, 199–200
at Akamai, 162
on Lewin, D., 162–163
Baghdad, 40
Bagrats, 9
Bake off, Akamai, 172
Baker Communications Fund LP, 153
Ball, Robert, 126
Barak, Ehud, 34
Baran, Paul, 7n
Barcodes, 12
Barkat, Nir, 219
Barlas, Pete, 171
Barret, Andrew, 189
Battery Ventures, 77, 93, 105–106, 142–143, 153
Akamai invested in by, 107
BBN. See Bolt, Beranek and Newman
Bell Canada, 181
Bell Laboratories, 84, 90, 92
Ben Gurion airport, 30, 213
Ben & Jerry’s, 146
Ben Yehuda Street, 33
Beret March, 36–37
Berger, Bonnie, 69, 115, 175, 176, 208
Leighton, T., and, 12–13
on Lewin, D., 15–16, 142
on money, 182
Berlinski, David, 60, 61
Berners-Lee, Tim, 8, 49, 55–56, 160
Leighton, T., and, 20–21
Beta testers, 116
Bezeq, 28
BGP. See Border Gateway Protocol
Bilger, Art, 101, 137, 176
on Akamai, 180
Blackburn, Be, 49–50
Bluefly, 165
BNN. See Business News Network
Bochner, Steve, 77
Bogstad, Bill, 77, 104
Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN), 7, 149, 150
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), 18
Borrego, Diego, 82
Boston College, 55
“The Brain that Beat the World Wide Wait” (article), 164–165
The Breakfast Club (film), 102
Broad, Eli, 74
Broadcom, 70
Bruckstein, Alfred
on Lewin, D., 13–15
as professor, 14
Bruckstein, Ariel, 15
&n
bsp; Burston-Marsteller, 118
Business News Network (BNN), 107
Business Wire (magazine), 195
Cabinets, 57
Cachet Technologies, 70, 72, 76, 93
Greenberg with, 74
Caching, 19, 157
Lewin, D., studying, 56–57
methods of, 56
Cal Tech, 9
California Institute of Technology, 61
Cambridge, 9, 20
Akamai staff in, 124
Lewin, D., in, 4
on 9/11, 209–210
Cameron, James, 185
La Campania, 112
Cannavino, James, 152
Carnegie, Andrew, 169
Carnegie Mellon, 4, 9
CarSoft, 81, 82
Cascade, 90
Case Institute, 61
Cassanova, Frank, 137
Cassidy, John, 141
Cassidy, Michael, 70, 80
Cat’s Cradle (Vonnegut), 109
CBS, 165
CDN. See Content distribution network
CD-ROMS, 99
Cerf, Vinton, 7–8
CERN, 20
Charles River, 4, 54
Cherry Creek Middle School, 25–26
The Chicago Tribune (newspaper), 211
Cisco Systems, 166–167
“Class Struggle: MIT Students, Lured to New Tech Firms, Get Caught in a Bind” (Marcus), 155
Clinton, Bill, 99–100, 118
CNN.com, 99–100, 116, 123, 161, 186
Akamai and, 132–133, 211–212
launching, 132
Sagan, P., on, 188
CNNFN, 132, 183, 189
CNNSI, 132
Coca-Cola, 190, 217
Cohen, Rich, 38
Colorado, 26–27
Computer science. See Theoretical computer science
Conrades, George, 107, 164, 186, 210
at Akamai, 152–153, 216
career of, 149–150
as CEO, 149, 151–152
on computers, 149
at IBM, 150
Kaplan and, 154
on Leighton, T., 143
motorcycle rides of, 181–182
at Polaris, 151
Consistent hashing, 56, 68
Leighton, T. on, 62–63
Lewin, D., on, 57–59
“Consistent Hashing and Random Trees: Algorithms for Caching in Distributed Networks” (Lewin, D.), 83
Content distribution network (CDN), 121
Credit Suisse, 172
Crosbie, David, 77, 95
Akamai pitch of, 78–80
Cue, Eddie, 137
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