Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of Blackberry - Softcover

McNish, Jacquie; Silcoff, Sean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1250096065 ISBN 13: 9781250096067

Publisher: Flatiron Books, 2016

Synopsis

THE BASIS FOR IFC FILMS' BLACKBERRY
Named a Best Business Book by The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Financial Times, and more

The riveting, true story of the BlackBerry empire--and how it would eventually come crumbling down in the wake of the smartphone revolution

"One helluva story." ―Toronto Star

Losing the Signal is a riveting story of a company that toppled global giants before succumbing to the ruthlessly competitive forces of Silicon Valley. This is not a conventional tale of modern business failure by fraud and greed. The rise and fall of BlackBerry reveals the dangerous speed at which innovators race along the information superhighway.

With unprecedented access to key players, senior executives, directors and competitors, Losing the Signal unveils the remarkable rise of a company that started above a bagel store in Ontario. At the heart of the story is an unlikely partnership between a visionary engineer, Mike Lazaridis, and an abrasive Harvard Business school grad, Jim Balsillie. Together, they engineered a pioneering pocket email device that became the tool of choice for presidents and CEOs. The partnership enjoyed only a brief moment on top of the world, however. At the very moment BlackBerry was ranked the world's fastest growing company internal feuds and chaotic growth crippled the company as it faced its gravest test: Apple and Google's entry in to mobile phones.

Expertly told by acclaimed journalists, Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff, this is an entertaining, whirlwind narrative that goes behind the scenes to reveal one of the most compelling business stories of the new century.

About this title

About the Authors

JACQUIE MCNISH is one of the most experienced business journalists in Canada. She has led coverage of many of the most significant business stories of the past 25 years for Canada's top business publications. McNish is a senior writer with the Globe and Mail and before that the Wall Street Journal. She has won six National Newspaper Awards for her ground- breaking investigations into some of the biggest business stories of the past three decades. She is a regular host on Canada's business news station BNN and an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. She lives in Toronto with her husband and two sons.

SEAN SILCOFF is one of the most experienced business journalists in Canada. He has led coverage of many of the most significant business stories of the past 25 years for Canada's top business publications. Silcoff is an award-winning business writer with the Globe and Mail. During his 17-year business reporting career he has covered just about every area of business, from agriculture to the credit crisis, toys to airplane manufacturing. In his two years with the Globe and Mail he has won a National Newspaper Award and led the paper's coverage of BlackBerry. He is also a contributor to Report on Business Insight, the business section's signature commentary section. His 2005 series for The National Post on Brazilian plane-maker Embraer won an Aerospace Journalist of the Year Award and was a two-time winner of the Edward Goff Memorial Prize for Young Canadian Journalists during his career as a crime reporter. He lives in the Gatineau Hills near Ottawa with his wife and three children.

Edition details

• Publisher: Flatiron Books
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1250096065
• ISBN 13: 9781250096067
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288