Published in 1992, Neal Stephenson's landmark science fiction novel is credited with coining the word "metaverse" and imagining with remarkable prescience many of the technologies — virtual reality worlds, digital avatars, cryptocurrency, decentralized information networks — that have since moved from science fiction toward commercial reality. The novel is set in a near-future America where government has largely collapsed and corporate franchises have become the dominant social institutions, and follows a pizza delivery man and hacker named Hiro Protagonist who discovers a dangerous new drug called Snow Crash that affects users of both the virtual Metaverse and the physical world. Stephenson's Metaverse is strikingly similar to the virtual worlds later explored by Second Life, Fortnite, and the Web3 metaverse projects that companies like Meta are building today: a persistent three-dimensional virtual reality in which users interact through digital avatars, conduct commerce, and build social communities. The novel also introduces a sophisticated theory of language as a kind of neural virus, and its exploration of information theory and cognitive science gives it unusual intellectual depth alongside its action-thriller narrative. For investors and entrepreneurs working in virtual reality, digital assets, and Web3, reading Snow Crash as a cultural and conceptual foundation document is as important as reading any business book in the space.