“Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.” The quote is attributed to Albert Camus, and I couldn’t agree more. That’s why I believe fiction can be a lens into the dynamics at play in startups. In fact, life in the startup world can sometimes be absurd enough that I’ve occasionally found myself thinking, “You couldn’t make this up!”
I’ve written a novel about a 50-something woman who joins a startup, which I’ll publish in March. Throughout the writing process, I’ve been reading novels set in this same world. Here are three I’d recommend, amusing portrayals of some of the realities of startup life.
A unicorn-denying scoop
Startup: A Novel, by Doree Shafrir
The author has presumably used her experience as a senior writer at Buzzfeed to inform this tale, a semi-satire about startup life–its temptations, its absurdities, and the toll it can take on people. Set in the burgeoning New York startup scene, the drama takes off when a tech journalist inadvertently sees a text message with the potential to take down the founder of a company about to rise to unicorn status. She needs the scoop! Several other characters intersect with this devolving situation, and their own work and personal issues add to the drama. My favorite commentary on age in the book: The thirty-something mother who works at one of the startups involved in this shakeup rants on her disdain for after-work drinks with her young co-workers. (We’ve all been there!)
Money, families and tech
Family Trust, by Kathy Wang
Perhaps the most serious of the three novels here, Family Trust revolves around a Silicon Valley family sent into a tailspin when its patriarch is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. A central question torments all: How much money will he leave behind, and to whom? His two adult children work in tech, one a VC and the other a product manager, but they have their own problems which a large inheritance could solve. Much of the book focuses on the business dealings of these two. Meanwhile, their father’s ex-wife and current wife also become ensnared in how the inheritance will be distributed. I enjoyed the social commentary on tech companies and venture capital, and Wang has skillfully lampooned some aspects of her own Asian culture.
Breaking into the boys club
Sophia of Silicon Valley, by Anna Yen
Just out of school, brash and bold, Sophia Young jumps headfirst into pursuing the American dream, Silicon Valley-style. She’s an over-the-top character who’s amusing to watch struggle and claw her way ahead, a character you root for even when she’s nothing like you. Like Family Trust, there’s a lot of funny material about tech culture and VCs, as well as Sophia’s family and Asian culture. The book underscores how hard it is for women to make it in the “boys club” of the tech world. The author works in the Valley herself, and some of the “fiction” is clearly based on real companies and characters, thinly veiled. You’ll recognize them!
Stepping into the shoes of fictional characters at work in startups is a fun and instructive way to gain insight into how companies run, the dynamics between founders and employees, as well as the stresses of venture capital and startup funding.