Disrupted
Books | Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs
3.7
Dan Lyons
An instant New York Times bestseller, Dan Lyons' "hysterical" (Recode) memoir, hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "the best book about Silicon Valley," takes readers inside the maddening world of fad-chasing venture capitalists, sales bros, social climbers, and sociopaths at today's tech startups. For twenty-five years Dan Lyons was a magazine writer at the top of his profession--until one Friday morning when he received a phone call: Poof. His job no longer existed. "I think they just want to hire younger people," his boss at Newsweek told him. Fifty years old and with a wife and two young kids, Dan was, in a word, screwed. Then an idea hit. Dan had long reported on Silicon Valley and the tech explosion. Why not join it? HubSpot, a Boston start-up, was flush with $100 million in venture capital. They offered Dan a pile of stock options for the vague role of "marketing fellow." What could go wrong? HubSpotters were true believers: They were making the world a better place ... by selling email spam. The office vibe was frat house meets cult compound: The party began at four thirty on Friday and lasted well into the night; "shower pods" became hook-up dens; a push-up club met at noon in the lobby, while nearby, in the "content factory," Nerf gun fights raged. Groups went on "walking meetings," and Dan's absentee boss sent cryptic emails about employees who had "graduated" (read: been fired). In the middle of all this was Dan, exactly twice the age of the average HubSpot employee, and literally old enough to be the father of most of his co-workers, sitting at his desk on his bouncy-ball "chair."
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More Details:
Author
Dan Lyons
Pages
272
Publisher
Grand Central Publishing
Published Date
2016-04-05
ISBN
031630607X 9780316306072
Ratings
Google: 3.5
Community ReviewsSee all
"A very interesting look into a technology firm through the eyes of an employee who doesn't fit the culture. Reveals a lot about the current tech bubble we are in. "
Rob Katz
"Few months ago, I read Chaos Monkeys, a scathing but a hilarious insider account on Facebook. It was written by a product manager, Antonio García Martínez. As a fellow product manager and as a snacker on content everything related to Facebook & Mark Zuckerberg, I thoroughly loved the witty at same time an optimistic critique on ad-tech companies and social media companies by Antonio.<br/><br/>I chanced upon, Disrupted by Dan Lyons, in a Kara Swisher's podcast. I loved this book. It is rip-roaringly hilarious, acerbic and brings down all the holy cows of the SaaS startup world. Yes, the tone of the writer is pessimistic and sometimes it borders lament. But it so very well written and an awesome experience to listen to the book in author's voice. <br/><br/>The book is about Dan's experience in working for HubSpot. It is a company that is revered in my work circle. I laughed out so loud during my commute on many instances on his snarky sarcastic comments. No one is spared. Dan makes fun of HubSpot's CEO and its CTO. He takes huge dig at Salesforce.com's Marc Benioff and my hero, Marc Andreessen. His take on HubSpot's CMO (Cranium - Mike Volpe), Mike's report (Wingman) and Dan's boss (Trotsky) are extremely funny and very enjoyable.<br/><br/>The chapter were he describes on how he gets fired from Newsweek was so moving and so scary. The travails he endured in dealing with Trotsky, his boss was also very gut-wrenching in many aspects. It was very, very well written and I could really empathise with him.<br/><br/>Sure, he really criticizes the Silicon Valley's ethos and ways of building things. I get a feeling that sometimes its a world view problem of people coming from a different (media, journalism) world and not getting the basic understand (insistence of make profit as a key and sound parameter for a business and many other such quirks). He dresses down and harshly criticizes Marc Andreessen and a16z's media content. I am not here to judge and pass comments on his opinions. But its damn interesting and funny to read his views. It is really good.<br/><br/>Highly recommend it for people interested in hearing an outsider's view into the startup world."
Santhosh Guru