Sophia of Silicon Valley

Sophia of Silicon Valley (Anna Yen, 2018)

How I stumbled upon it: Must-read lists for 2018!

What it's about: Sophia is young, smart, and living in Silicon Valley looking for opportunity. She lands a VC relations gig at “Treehouse” (read: Pixar) under Scott Kraft (read: Steve Jobs). Managing him and his investors takes her on the ride of her life - until she ends up working for arguably the even more eccentric Andre Stark (read: Elon Musk). Sophia has to learn how to build a career from scratch based only on potential, quick thinking, and her ability to hang with the boys.

What I thought: Here’s the thing, I love the concept. I think it is so interesting + Anna Yen has had an incredible career (the author worked for Steve Jobs + Elon Musk managing their investor relations). If I hadn’t known as much about tech, I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more because I would have found myself more able to sink into the story rather than overanalyze what was fictionalized vs. truth. Whether you are familiar with the tech industry or not, it’s a great story about a woman who learns how to hold her own in a pretty intimidating environment, but it's not as light as a beach read.

You can get it here.