Brotopia

Brotopia (Emily Chang, 2018)

How I stumbled upon it: I’ve been eagerly awaiting it’s release since reading excerpts in the pre-book press

What it's about: Essentially, Silicon Valley was built on the shoulders of an extremely small, well-connected group of men. It’s not surprising that there isn’t much diversity there now, but things have got to change given that women in tech have had a vastly different (and mostly not pleasant) experience. Emily Chang goes behind the scenes in this well-researched dive into the toxic culture of tech.

What I thought: 1.) Let me just start with saying that Silicon Valley and New York tech are similar in many ways, but I feel very fortunate that I have never experienced the severe harassment or toxic cultures in the same way as many women in California. New York is so diverse and there are so many other industries that you don’t feel siloed with one group of people and that keeps some of this behavior out.. 2.) While I thought the start was a bit slow, I really enjoyed the second half of the book; especially the recommendations for moving forward and creating more diverse + inclusive workplaces for women, diverse candidates + families. It was good to see that so many founders/CEOs/board members/VCs spoke with Chang to help her paint a broader picture of the landscape.

You can get it here.