If you’re not already familiar with the works of Shanley, then the release of her latest book is probably a good and comprehensive way to get a feel for it.
Your Startup is Broken is a set of essays that each attempt to deconstruct and criticize the organizational and social flaws of companies in the tech industry and specifically the smaller ones.
The first 100 pages are essentially trying to address issues that are common to most companies, but that the typical startup environment – scruffy, fast, monocultural – tends to either exacerbate or ignore. The meat of the book is the section that gathers essays around the topic of misogyny and sexism – something that permeates our entire society but whose manifestation in the industry is highly visible.
If you’re already familiar with those problematics, the book is probably not going to be an eye-opener. If you’re not, then you might be in for a rough ride. The words can be harsh but what’s harsher is the ring of truth behind them:
And then there is Lean In, the new brand of white, extreme upper-class tech feminism championed by Sheryl Sandberg and epitomized by Marissa Mayer. It is a self-interested feminism of white privilege, bereft of historical context, bereft of critical thought. It is a feminism removed utterly from the challenges of average women workers in tech, a feminism deliberately pacified for the devouring palate of the status quo.
It is, at last, a feminism the patriarchy can get behind.
Certain articles definitely exposed patterns in a way that I hadn’t picked upon before, or shed light onto something I ignored because of my own history. Regardless of your own perspective and opinions, the book certainly offers a whole lot of food for thought, which is well worth $10.