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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
Fairly easy to read, and made some good points about the broader, worrisome trends growing in the tech world. The actual unveiling of the culture at HubSpot was less interesting than I expected, as I've worked at startups that had milder versions of the same kind of thing going on. If you didn't know what that was like already, I think you'd get more out of the first 1/2 of the book.
I enjoyed reading Dan Lyons' tale of working in a tech start-up on a number of different levels. First, as a former journalist, Lyons story is a witty, engaging, albeit simplistic read.
After losing his job as the technology reporter at Newsweek, Lyons, like many, sees the growing tech start-up scene as a appealing option for career reinvention. Here, as someone who is interested in career development the role work plays in our life, I enjoyed reading about Lyons experience transitioning to a new sector after over two decades working in the same field. Lyons is in his early 50's and entering a new profession, more challenging is that this field is dominated by 20-somethings who seem to believe the college party makes for a good workplace culture.
Lyons quickly realizes that the tech start-up, a real company that os still in operations today, is essentially a house of cards propped up by a "boiler room" of cold calling sales reps trying to market poorly developed software. Unlike the early days of technology, today's market place is driven by marketing pros and investors are throwing money at start-up based on a good sales pitch and blind hope in making a fortune. This is where I think Lyons book is most interesting.
Lyons exposes the tech sector as an industry where early investors end up making a fortune even though the business model and/or product is a failure. Tech companies offer free beer, taco Tuesdays and unlimited vacations, along with that faint hope of making a million, yet the industry is nothing more that a modern version of a sweatshop that churns through employees. Promised stock options and a "fun" culture are appealing and young adults are drawn in, but with the high turn-over rate companies manage to keep costs low. Those "unlimited vacation days" sound great, but they cannot be cashed-out when you leave employment.
After losing his job as the technology reporter at Newsweek, Lyons, like many, sees the growing tech start-up scene as a appealing option for career reinvention. Here, as someone who is interested in career development the role work plays in our life, I enjoyed reading about Lyons experience transitioning to a new sector after over two decades working in the same field. Lyons is in his early 50's and entering a new profession, more challenging is that this field is dominated by 20-somethings who seem to believe the college party makes for a good workplace culture.
Lyons quickly realizes that the tech start-up, a real company that os still in operations today, is essentially a house of cards propped up by a "boiler room" of cold calling sales reps trying to market poorly developed software. Unlike the early days of technology, today's market place is driven by marketing pros and investors are throwing money at start-up based on a good sales pitch and blind hope in making a fortune. This is where I think Lyons book is most interesting.
Lyons exposes the tech sector as an industry where early investors end up making a fortune even though the business model and/or product is a failure. Tech companies offer free beer, taco Tuesdays and unlimited vacations, along with that faint hope of making a million, yet the industry is nothing more that a modern version of a sweatshop that churns through employees. Promised stock options and a "fun" culture are appealing and young adults are drawn in, but with the high turn-over rate companies manage to keep costs low. Those "unlimited vacation days" sound great, but they cannot be cashed-out when you leave employment.
I spent the first half of my career in journalism. My first entree into non-media work started at a place strikingly similar to the environment Dan Lyons describes in his hilarious, panic-inducing memoir. Though I was only 30-something when I began at a marketing startup, my first day also involved zero direction and much confusion. Where would I sit? Who would I report to? What, exactly, was my job? Then there was the endless candy, free lunches, indoor slide, ping-pong table, random team-building exercises -- perks, they called them. As Lyons writes, I'd rather get paid in actual dollars. That's just the tip of the iceberg. By the time the author makes it to Hollywood to write for Silicon Valley, I cheered out loud. You made it! You found your way back to your people. You lived to tell the tale! Hopefully millions will read this and all of the negative aspects of today's dominant startup culture will be overshadowed and replaced by those who are actually making enormous strides in technology and entrepreneurship--the innovative, thoughtful, respectful and witty people who really transcend the hype.
funny
informative
tense
fast-paced
I worked in a tiny tiny startup ten years ago and read this when it first came out and I howled and laughed & saw such similarities.
Nothing has changed, but now I look at the state of the world and think, wow Silicon Valley tech companies really destroyed everything.
Lyons captures it perfectly and this is probably the only book I’ve ever read where I have such a violent swing in my reaction to it upon re-reading it.
Nothing has changed, but now I look at the state of the world and think, wow Silicon Valley tech companies really destroyed everything.
Lyons captures it perfectly and this is probably the only book I’ve ever read where I have such a violent swing in my reaction to it upon re-reading it.
Pretty on point satire of the tech start up world! Hysterical at times. Wish there was more about other companies and less on HubSpot particularly, but still really funny.
One of those books where you don't know just how much the truth has been stretched because what you're reading sounds so out there. In the epilogue, Dan says he was writing a book for entertainment purposes. Well, whether it was truth or stretched truth, it entertained.
I've listened to the book, read by the author, twice. It's fantastic. A sarcastic, frank, scathing dissection from within of one of marketing's most self congratulatory start ups. It points out with real examples so many things that are just pure insanity in tech startups, and in the world of modern marketing. It felt fantastic to hear so much nonsense brought into the light. You should definitely read it, particularly if you've had to survive working at or with a company riding the tech bubble and high on their own crazy philosophy.
The writer behind the "Fake Steve Jobs" is the "Real Dan Lyons". For workers of a certain age, the story of a 52-year-old technology editor laid off from his job at Newsweek will hit a (raw) nerve. But writing about tech startups and working at tech startups are 2 different things. Considering Lyons' background, his lack of knowledge about the corporate world seems, well, "fake". What seems all too real are the descriptions of the marketing software firm where he works and the wealth created for the few while the many are told to "get back to work".
This book had me all over the place, at times it was funny, at times the author's own shortcomings were very apparent in both his self-awareness and his business sense, and at times the descriptions of his sociopathic boss's treatment brought back my own PTSD.
It was also a very honest take of what age discrimination felt like for the author. It definitely made me think more carefully about my own management hopefully more empathetic to others who may feel isolated by a company's culture.
It was also a very honest take of what age discrimination felt like for the author. It definitely made me think more carefully about my own management hopefully more empathetic to others who may feel isolated by a company's culture.
If you enjoy watching Silicon Valley on HBO, you will like this book. Middle-aged laid off writer tries to re-invent himself in a start-up complete with all the cult-like behavior, lack of company processes, or adult supervision. Might not be the book for you if you are living it day to day.