Schadenfreude
lives in all of us. That’s just the bitter truth. The more toxic they are, the
more we love to see them fall.
Startup, by Doree Shafrir, is a
book that easily satisfies readers with its not-so-unique tale of New York's
startup tech world and all of the baggage that comes with navigating toxic
behavior in today's work place.
The
storyline centers around Mack McAllister, a typical startup bro whose mindfulness app, TakeOff, promises to bring in the big bucks to his
investors. How he charms these venture capitalists into pouring millions of
dollars into this redundant app is beyond me, but still, his ability to easily persuade investors into funding their poorly thought out ideas reminds me of Fyre Festival's notorious creator, Billy
McFarland.
Like
McFarland, Mack McAllister makes big promises that he's not too sure he can keep. And as
an added bonus, he is also dipping his pen in the company ink, which never
bodes well as readers will come to see.
The
book also introduces us to Katya Pasternack and Sabrina Choe Blum, a
Russian-American Tech Journalist and a Korean-American Social Media Manager who
both struggle with terrible partners, unrealistic expectations from their
bosses, and staying afloat in a rapidly changing workplace environment amid the
world of social media and the burgeoning #MeToo movement.
This
story gives us multiple insights into the lives of startup employees, women in
tech, and the toxic patriarchal culture that more often than not plagues the
industry. And for those who don’t work in tech, there are still many points of
relation with the characters. Despite not working for a startup company, I do
have my fair share of experience working in journalism and social media, with
the added bonus of working in New York City, so I was especially drawn in upon
reading the premise.
If
it had not been for my terribly low iron levels, which puts me in a state of
perpetual fatigue, I would have most likely finished this novel in a day.
However, factoring in biology, it took me all of eight hours to complete this
novel over the course of two days.
A
definite five-stars, I would recommend this book to those who are fans of
modern fiction, light reads, satire and to those who spend endless hours on
Buzzfeed taking quizzes to find out what type of bagel they are. For everyone
in between, it can also serve as a nice filler between emotionally heavy reads,
like Beloved or Educated.
Readers
can purchase Startup on Amazon or the
Amazon Kindle Store, but if you’re cheap like
me, then the New York Public Library will suffice. Let me know what you think
in the comments below.
Happy
reading!
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