diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fa1cb0515..6fd901467 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -14,12 +14,52 @@ transitions between pages in the browser.
 #### Just getting started with `react-server`?
 
 The _easiest_ way to get started is with our [yeoman
-generator](packages/generator-react-server).
+generator](packages/generator-react-server):
+
+```bash
+# install yeoman
+npm install -g yo
+
+# install the react-server generator
+npm install -g generator-react-server
+
+# make a new react-server project
+yo react-server
+```
 
 That hooks you up with [`react-server-cli`](packages/react-server-cli), which
 will take care of the _server_ part and get you up and running right away.
 
-Once you're hungry for more dig into [the docs](docs/) and
+#### Why `react-server`?
+
+One of the great things about React is its support for server-side rendering,
+which can make sites show up faster for users and play better with search engine
+bots.
+
+However, when you actually try to use React for server-side rendering, you
+quickly run into a bunch of practical problems, such as:
+
+- How should I load data on the server for my components?
+- How do I ensure that the client and the server load the same data and generate
+the same HTML markup?
+- How do I write code that can be both generated server-side and be part of a
+single-page application (SPA)?
+- How should I optimize the delivery of my JavaScript and CSS?
+- How do I find out about and follow performance best practices?
+- How do I ensure that my site is streamed to the browser as quickly as humanly
+possible?
+- How can I make my app resilient when my backend has high latency spikes?
+
+`react-server` is a framework designed to make universal (neƩ isomorphic) React
+easier to write, providing standard answers for these questions and more. When
+you write your app for `react-server`, you concentrate on your React components,
+and `react-server` takes care of everything else that's needed to run and deploy
+real React server-rendered apps. Under the hood, `react-server` is doing a bunch
+of clever optimizations, many borrowed from the ideas behind [Facebook's Big Pipe](https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-engineering/bigpipe-pipelining-web-pages-for-high-performance/389414033919/),
+to make sure that your site shows up as quickly as humanly possible
+for your users.
+
+Once you're hungry for more, dig into [the docs](docs/) and
 [`react-server`](packages/react-server) itself.
 ** **