The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest: A Novel Book

In the basement of a distinguished Silicon Valley research lab, Andy Caspar's engineering talents are being ignored. All he wants is a meaningful and challenging project to prove himself.

A chance appears when Francis Benoit, the lab's chief engineer, sets Andy up on a long-neglected project: design a radically simpler and cheaper computer. Andy recruits three eccentric programmers, and the team works around the clock to achieve a breakthrough.

But just as Andy's team is on the verge of success, their work becomes a threat to other interests at the research lab; the project and their careers are put in jeopardy. To save his project, Andy must be far more than a programmer - he must become a strategist, a salesman, and an expert motivator.