Utopian Entrepreneur

Brenda Laurel's startup company, 'Purple Moon,' failed but her travails provided a powerful learning experience. This engaging book, written in a style that is uniquely Brenda, tells the story. More importantly, it shows how to move forward to a positive humanistic culture, where technology and media provide rich, rewarding experiences.

Donald A. Norman, Nielsen Norman Group, author of The Invisible Computer

Laurel's stream-of-consciousness tale weaves whole cloth around the meaning of online experience, from those heady early days that defined Interval to the tatters of the brave experiment that was Purple Moon. At turns both humorous and heartbreaking, this always humane account of the would-be transcendent dot-com and what its intrepid founder learned along the way will resonate with the utopian entrepreneur in all of us.

Donna L. Hoffman, Co-Director, eLab, Vanderbilt University

A guide to those seeking socially positive work in the business world.

Publishers Weekly

a worthy manual for anyone striving to create a successful business model out of socially positive work.

Christy Mulligan

New Jersey Computer User Magazine

In a better world, the road to wealth would be lined with people like Laurel.

Noah Robischon

Entertainment Weekly

This small book achieves consciousness and pleasure through design and word with an added appeal to touch.

Marcell Hackbardt

Afterimage

I read Brenda Laurel's heartfelt confession with complete attention and respect. It's a thrill to learn what she's really been up to!

Bruce Sterling, author of Shaping Things

In a world overrun by self-appointed media gurus, Laurel is the real thing: a theorist, an artist, and a veteran of the computer wars. Utopian Entrepreneur is a tour-de-force of visionary thinking and a testament to the power of expressive language: visually and verbally, theoretically and theatrically. Her new book is a gem.

Jessica Helfand, Helfand Drenttel Studio, and Lecturer, Yale School of Art