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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
Pretty funny. A bit over the top sometimes, but generally entertaining.
Entertaining and educational.
Author - 1⭐
Story - 1⭐
Ending - 1⭐
Offensiveness - 1/2⭐
Recommend - 1⭐
Author - 1⭐
Story - 1⭐
Ending - 1⭐
Offensiveness - 1/2⭐
Recommend - 1⭐
This book is classified as a memoir, but it also contains strong arguments about the not-so-savory side of the tech world, particularly with ageism and irresponsible spending that has the potential to wreak havoc on the global economy. If I could have given the book 4.5 stars, I would have. Dan Lyons has a way with words, and I laughed out loud in many places. There are so many passages that reminded me of exactly why I got out of corporate America, and why it is so tragic that some of this corporate nonsense is appearing in our public education systems. It's definitely not "totes awesome." Make sure to read the epilogue!
funny
medium-paced
I'm giving this 2.5 stars for being well written and also for being exactly what it says on the tin. That said, Dan Lyons does himself no favors in this book. (Please note- I'm writing this review with the assumption that everything that he mentions happening in it, including his reactions to things, happened as he said it did. I don't believe that's true for reasons I'll articulate below, but he says it's all true, so...)
You can argue that he knows this- he makes some half-assed attempts to show himself being somewhat out of touch having come from news organizations, which are apparently a different breed of workplace with a very different culture, as well as being older and not hip with the youth or whatever- not just from startups but from pretty much anywhere else. It's really ironic that he writes self-righteous chapters about how startups have a known culture of sexual harassment and partying while also calling his own workplace a "kindergarten" where they can't take his jokes about him wanting to kill people who annoy him or dude-conversations about teenage au pairs (let's just say I do not trust his description of that conversation). I'm so glad for him he ends up in a REAL GROWNUP workplace like... a HBO writers room where they're all allowed to make sex jokes all the time, encouraged to even, unlike the horrible startup where he has to actually act like a competent adult and not offend people?
The thing is, there are definitely some real oddities as he describes his workplace. He was indeed put into a strange and I'm sure personally challenging situation, and some stuff was genuinely weird (like "graduation"- genuinely nuts). At the same time, some of what he was decrying is not just what the current workplace is like, but what workplaces have been like for a long time. He describes some work scenes as "like Office Space," but Office Space wasn't about a startup, it was about a normal old-timey office full of disaffected employees. He handwaves about a past where companies were loyal to employees and employees were loyal back, while also seems shocked that a person can be unceremoniously fired- something that, post-2008, seems like an insane thing (and especially seems nuts coming after HE HIMSELF WAS UNCEREMONIOUSLY FIRED at the beginning of the book!). It's obviously awful from a human lens, but why on earth does he write about it as shocking? Pretty much everyone I know who was ever fired by having HR come to their desk or their key card deactivated was working in normal corporate America, not at a startup.
There are so many places where he doesn't seem to be able to differentiate the things that make his office objectively weird (whether as a startup or otherwise) or the things that make it... a corporate office. He asks friends for reality checks on whether something is normal, but they're always high-powered friends who probably haven't been in the corporate rank and file themselves in years. He arguably has the right to write a FB post blasting his CEO for his hundred thousand followers, but the fact that he's so convinced that everyone is overreacting is bizarre to anyone who has been in a corporate environment of literally any kind. He starts on a whole rant to younger colleagues about how they shouldn't like the candy wall and don't they wish they had more money instead? To believe him, they all stared back at him dumbly like they enjoyed being paid in candy and couldn't understand the appeal of cash- when in fact they made the sensible point that nobody was offering them more money in exchange for less candy, so...
I'd also add- while "Trotsky" definitely comes across as somewhat deranged, I have to say that by Lyons's own account, Trotsky read him like a large print book. The whiff of casual misogyny that permeates the book (even as Lyons spends pages talking about lack of diversity) is honestly overbearing, and the fact that Trotsky can get Lyons to believe pretty much anything as long as he blames one of the awful vapid mediocre women for it is actually masterful. Well done, dude (though less well done on the probably-illegal surveillance).
This book almost makes me mad that Lyons was able to fall upward into his dream, expletive-filled role in the Silicon Valley writers' room. He learned literally nothing from his brief, scary trip to the world that everyone else works in.
You can argue that he knows this- he makes some half-assed attempts to show himself being somewhat out of touch having come from news organizations, which are apparently a different breed of workplace with a very different culture, as well as being older and not hip with the youth or whatever- not just from startups but from pretty much anywhere else. It's really ironic that he writes self-righteous chapters about how startups have a known culture of sexual harassment and partying while also calling his own workplace a "kindergarten" where they can't take his jokes about him wanting to kill people who annoy him or dude-conversations about teenage au pairs (let's just say I do not trust his description of that conversation). I'm so glad for him he ends up in a REAL GROWNUP workplace like... a HBO writers room where they're all allowed to make sex jokes all the time, encouraged to even, unlike the horrible startup where he has to actually act like a competent adult and not offend people?
The thing is, there are definitely some real oddities as he describes his workplace. He was indeed put into a strange and I'm sure personally challenging situation, and some stuff was genuinely weird (like "graduation"- genuinely nuts). At the same time, some of what he was decrying is not just what the current workplace is like, but what workplaces have been like for a long time. He describes some work scenes as "like Office Space," but Office Space wasn't about a startup, it was about a normal old-timey office full of disaffected employees. He handwaves about a past where companies were loyal to employees and employees were loyal back, while also seems shocked that a person can be unceremoniously fired- something that, post-2008, seems like an insane thing (and especially seems nuts coming after HE HIMSELF WAS UNCEREMONIOUSLY FIRED at the beginning of the book!). It's obviously awful from a human lens, but why on earth does he write about it as shocking? Pretty much everyone I know who was ever fired by having HR come to their desk or their key card deactivated was working in normal corporate America, not at a startup.
There are so many places where he doesn't seem to be able to differentiate the things that make his office objectively weird (whether as a startup or otherwise) or the things that make it... a corporate office. He asks friends for reality checks on whether something is normal, but they're always high-powered friends who probably haven't been in the corporate rank and file themselves in years. He arguably has the right to write a FB post blasting his CEO for his hundred thousand followers, but the fact that he's so convinced that everyone is overreacting is bizarre to anyone who has been in a corporate environment of literally any kind. He starts on a whole rant to younger colleagues about how they shouldn't like the candy wall and don't they wish they had more money instead? To believe him, they all stared back at him dumbly like they enjoyed being paid in candy and couldn't understand the appeal of cash- when in fact they made the sensible point that nobody was offering them more money in exchange for less candy, so...
I'd also add- while "Trotsky" definitely comes across as somewhat deranged, I have to say that by Lyons's own account, Trotsky read him like a large print book. The whiff of casual misogyny that permeates the book (even as Lyons spends pages talking about lack of diversity) is honestly overbearing, and the fact that Trotsky can get Lyons to believe pretty much anything as long as he blames one of the awful vapid mediocre women for it is actually masterful. Well done, dude (though less well done on the probably-illegal surveillance).
This book almost makes me mad that Lyons was able to fall upward into his dream, expletive-filled role in the Silicon Valley writers' room. He learned literally nothing from his brief, scary trip to the world that everyone else works in.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
I have polarized feelings about this book.
On one hand, Dan comes across and a condescending individual who considers his age and experience to be the sole determinants of his superiority at a startup that is predominantly made up of people half his age, with a skill-set very different from what he has. He was a bad fit for the job, but he stuck around because there were IPO $$$ to be made.
On the other hand, I relate to parts of his experience. My 6 years taking a product from infancy to maturity at a VERY BIG financial company in Boston added up to nothing when a new clique moved into the project. Suddenly the old crowd could do nothing right and the NKOTB were infallible. Two horrible biannual reviews later, I'm just glad I didn't quit but got laid off, got a very generous severance package and found greener pastures across the street within a month.
Ageism is very much alive in the tech sector.
The best part of the book is Chapter 12 where he takes a break from his incessant whining and actually writes something substantial. This is probably the only chapter where you learn something useful.
This is soon followed by a spiteful Chapter 20 which though insightful seems so out of place.
At times his narrative seems like a lawyer finally getting a chance to make an argument for the defense - "I did this. It was trivial. But Spinner... she got livid. But, but... it was TRIVIAL. Really!"
Lyons has a story worth telling, a story my career relates to; but this book didn't do that. Reducing the page count by about 50 and editing out a lot of the repetitive whining would have been a good start.
BTW, did anyone else notice the irony in the review by none other than... Newsweek: "Laugh-out-loud funny."
On one hand, Dan comes across and a condescending individual who considers his age and experience to be the sole determinants of his superiority at a startup that is predominantly made up of people half his age, with a skill-set very different from what he has. He was a bad fit for the job, but he stuck around because there were IPO $$$ to be made.
On the other hand, I relate to parts of his experience. My 6 years taking a product from infancy to maturity at a VERY BIG financial company in Boston added up to nothing when a new clique moved into the project. Suddenly the old crowd could do nothing right and the NKOTB were infallible. Two horrible biannual reviews later, I'm just glad I didn't quit but got laid off, got a very generous severance package and found greener pastures across the street within a month.
Ageism is very much alive in the tech sector.
The best part of the book is Chapter 12 where he takes a break from his incessant whining and actually writes something substantial. This is probably the only chapter where you learn something useful.
This is soon followed by a spiteful Chapter 20 which though insightful seems so out of place.
At times his narrative seems like a lawyer finally getting a chance to make an argument for the defense - "I did this. It was trivial. But Spinner... she got livid. But, but... it was TRIVIAL. Really!"
Lyons has a story worth telling, a story my career relates to; but this book didn't do that. Reducing the page count by about 50 and editing out a lot of the repetitive whining would have been a good start.
BTW, did anyone else notice the irony in the review by none other than... Newsweek: "Laugh-out-loud funny."
This one was hard to rate. Having lived in and through the dotcom-ness of the 90's and 00's in Silicon Valley, I could relate, sadly to a lot of this. But i was a 20-something and it was a little different then too. Some of the notables in the book are even friends of mine and in some ways this is interesting but hard to read without commenting.
I believe that one of the reasons I left and didn't come back to the craziness of the IPO-Tech industry is that now as a 50 something I would find myself in the same boat. But I also don't miss it and haven't missed it since I left 18 years ago.
I enjoyed the writing and the author's journey and willingness to do what he needed to do to support his family.
It is appalling though to think about the dysfunctional world of Tech IPO: to quote another reviewers words here:
"But what's the most disappointing is the author makes some good points: about how tech companies are de-valuing labor, about how the funding and IPO model is broken."
3.5 stars.
I believe that one of the reasons I left and didn't come back to the craziness of the IPO-Tech industry is that now as a 50 something I would find myself in the same boat. But I also don't miss it and haven't missed it since I left 18 years ago.
I enjoyed the writing and the author's journey and willingness to do what he needed to do to support his family.
It is appalling though to think about the dysfunctional world of Tech IPO: to quote another reviewers words here:
"But what's the most disappointing is the author makes some good points: about how tech companies are de-valuing labor, about how the funding and IPO model is broken."
3.5 stars.
A quick, fun read that didn't even begin to reflect the horror of the startup world until the epilogue.
I checked the audiobook version of this from the library, as I recognized this from a few years back. I enjoyed parts of it, particularly his description of the disconnect from the jargon and new economy boosterism of the executives from the reality of the actual revenue generation and management. The discussion of the age/culture issues between the author and his work colleagues was a little more iffy.
I'm much closer to the author's age and could definitely identify with his discomfort and missteps with a group that's close to half his age, you could also see that his satire/journalism background was even more of an issue. The sections on the problems of Silicon Valley companies and their venture capitalist enablers are more depressing than funny.
I'm much closer to the author's age and could definitely identify with his discomfort and missteps with a group that's close to half his age, you could also see that his satire/journalism background was even more of an issue. The sections on the problems of Silicon Valley companies and their venture capitalist enablers are more depressing than funny.
Interesting narrative
Good points- shows where all the money is going and gives some insight into the gap between rich and poor.
Orher points.
Clearly Dan Lyons hadn't worked in the corporate back office function, especially marketing or sales where people need to be team players. In publishing he was the star with the byline, the editor.
However hupstop's main product wasn't content like publishing.
To me he wasn't a good corporate fit and when he realised it he wanted to stay because of his stock options. But even with the exaggeration, l saw he wasn't a team player and was difficult to work with. He came over petty, mean, entitled and patronising.
All he had to do was turn up, smile and write a few copies, then collect his salary but he was sending sneaky emails on how things could be 'improved' and coming up wth 'good' ideas. Then writing snarky Facebook posts. He didn't get he was no longer a super star, just a brand name they wanted for traction
The way to get support in back office is to ask colleagues first not go to the founders or bosses.
He just didn't understand corporate back office and didn't understand in some fast moving environments the hierarchy doesn't matter. 🤣 And emails don't matter because people are flooded with them.
It feels like a one man crusade but l think until the start'up, he was sheltered from the corporate back-end.
Good points- shows where all the money is going and gives some insight into the gap between rich and poor.
Orher points.
Clearly Dan Lyons hadn't worked in the corporate back office function, especially marketing or sales where people need to be team players. In publishing he was the star with the byline, the editor.
However hupstop's main product wasn't content like publishing.
To me he wasn't a good corporate fit and when he realised it he wanted to stay because of his stock options. But even with the exaggeration, l saw he wasn't a team player and was difficult to work with. He came over petty, mean, entitled and patronising.
All he had to do was turn up, smile and write a few copies, then collect his salary but he was sending sneaky emails on how things could be 'improved' and coming up wth 'good' ideas. Then writing snarky Facebook posts. He didn't get he was no longer a super star, just a brand name they wanted for traction
The way to get support in back office is to ask colleagues first not go to the founders or bosses.
He just didn't understand corporate back office and didn't understand in some fast moving environments the hierarchy doesn't matter. 🤣 And emails don't matter because people are flooded with them.
It feels like a one man crusade but l think until the start'up, he was sheltered from the corporate back-end.
After being laid off, former Newsweek journalist Dan Lyons gets a job at Boston tech company HubSpot, where he is twice the age of his new coworkers. His book Disrupted purports to be an inside look into start-up culture.
I would give it 4 stars for being compulsively readable, but then subtract 3 stars for the author being completely insufferable. As a millennial who works at a start-up, it really just seemed like Lyons was doing his best to insult me at every turn. I constantly wondered, "Why did you even get hired in the first place?"
Lyons offers no revelations about start-ups, he simply comes across as a bitter, resentful person ranting about his job. He is adamant that start-ups are scammers and CEOs of tech companies are all lazy fratboys. Everyone is a bozo, and at one point he calls his coworkers, and I quote, “beer-drinking shitheads.” He wants to be doing “real journalism” and doesn’t understand why it’s wrong to post negative things about his employer on social media. He complains that no one at HubSpot appreciates his sense of humor, and when he is offered a role writing for HBO sitcom Silicon Valley, Lyons gleefully rejoices that he can get paid to make dick jokes.
Lyons says over and over that he only stays at HubSpot for the paycheck. My big takeaway is: Don't hire people, no matter how impressive their resume may seem, who think your whole company, your entire business model, and your freaking industry is a joke.
I would give it 4 stars for being compulsively readable, but then subtract 3 stars for the author being completely insufferable. As a millennial who works at a start-up, it really just seemed like Lyons was doing his best to insult me at every turn. I constantly wondered, "Why did you even get hired in the first place?"
Lyons offers no revelations about start-ups, he simply comes across as a bitter, resentful person ranting about his job. He is adamant that start-ups are scammers and CEOs of tech companies are all lazy fratboys. Everyone is a bozo, and at one point he calls his coworkers, and I quote, “beer-drinking shitheads.” He wants to be doing “real journalism” and doesn’t understand why it’s wrong to post negative things about his employer on social media. He complains that no one at HubSpot appreciates his sense of humor, and when he is offered a role writing for HBO sitcom Silicon Valley, Lyons gleefully rejoices that he can get paid to make dick jokes.
Lyons says over and over that he only stays at HubSpot for the paycheck. My big takeaway is: Don't hire people, no matter how impressive their resume may seem, who think your whole company, your entire business model, and your freaking industry is a joke.