Alpha girls : the women upstarts who took on Silicon Valley's male culture and made the deals of a lifetime / Julian Guthrie.
"An unforgettable story of four women who came to California to try to make it in a world stacked against them. Through grit and ingenuity, the women became stars in cutthroat, high-stakes, male dominated Silicon Valley and helped build some of the most important companies of our day. They were written out of history - until now. In Alpha Girls, award-winning journalist Julian Guthrie takes readers behind the closed doors of venture capital, an industry that transforms economies and shapes how we live. We follow the lives and careers of Magdalena Yesil, a fiercely focused emigre from Turkey who, after getting her electrical engineering degree from Stanford, endured tech conferences that featured naked women as entertainment; Mary Jane Hanna, who made her way from the corn fields of Terre Haute to the storied venture capital firm IVP on Sand Hill Road, only to be pulled back from the glass ceiling by expectations at home; Theresia Gouw, a first generation Asian American from a working class town who was so determined to integrate into American life that she refused to eat ethnic food, and who competed with the venture capital guys even on the football field; and Sonja Hoel, a cheerful blue-eyed Southerner who moved to Silicon Valley to join Menlo Ventures after getting her MBA from Harvard, landed hot Internet deals, and was transformed by a personal crisis. All had to navigate a world run by men, push for equal pay, and deflect sexist attitudes and clients who made passes or mistook them for secretaries. They won and lost startup deals ranging from Google and Facebook to Salesforce and Skype. Granted unparalleled access to the secretive VC universe, Guthrie intimately details the women's victories and defeats, their struggles to juggle work and family, and the broadsides they suffered when they least expected it. Despite the setbacks, they would rise again to rewrite the rules for an industry they love. In Alpha Girls, Guthrie reveals their untold stories"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780525573920
- Physical Description: 289 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour), portraits ; 25 cm
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York : Currency, 2019.
- Copyright: ©2019.
Content descriptions
General Note: | Includes index. |
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Available copies
- 4 of 4 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Terrace Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 4 total copies.
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Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Terrace Public Library | 004.0922 GUT (Text) | 35151001086289 | Adult Non-fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Baker & Taylor
Presents an account of four women pioneers in the field of venture capital who overcame harassment, unequal pay, and sexist attitudes to succeed in the high-stakes, male-dominated world of Silicon Valley. - Baker & Taylor
The award-winning author of How to Make a Spaceship traces the lesser-known stories of four women stars in cutthroat Silicon Valley who helped build some of the most important companies of today's world. - Baker & Taylor
"Alpha Girls is reporter Julian Guthrie's powerful account of four women pioneers in the field of venture capital who bucked the system and found ways to survive and thrive in the cutthroat, high-stakes, male-dominated world of Silicon Valley. The closed-doors investment decisions made by venture capitalists have the power to fund new startups and shape our economy, our technology, and our world. They have enabled the very existence of many of the world's most profitable companies. Known for their risk-taking and prescient investments, the VC community has reaped tens of billions of dollars and has become the envy of Wall Street. Yet thanks to the "bro-grammer culture" that rules the VC world, it is a cabal that is almost a foreign country for women. A mere 6 percent of general partners at VC firms are women; roughly 80 percent of VC firms have never had a woman general partner. But there are a few. Armed with unprecedented access to the secretive VC universe, Guthrie uncovers one of the great untold stories of the digital era. Against all odds, a small cadre of women--pioneers who Guthrie calls the "alpha girls"--have determinedly made their way despite harassment, second-class citizenship, and men stealing the credit and the rewards, to become powerhouses of the finance world. Through their grit and smarts and determination, they helped to launch the IPOs of some of the biggest tech firms. In Alpha Girls, Guthrie tells their story"-- - Random House, Inc.
An unforgettable story of four women who, through grit and ingenuity, became stars in the cutthroat, high-stakes, male dominated world of venture capital in Silicon Valley, and helped build some of the foremost companies of our time.
In Alpha Girls, award-winning journalist Julian Guthrie takes readers behind the closed doors of venture capital, an industry that transforms economies and shapes how we live. We follow the lives and careers of four women who were largely written out of history - until now.
Magdalena Yesil, who arrived in America from Turkey with $43 to her name, would go on to receive her electrical engineering degree from Stanford, found some of the first companies to commercialize internet access, and help Marc Benioff build Salesforce. Mary Jane Elmore went from the corn fields of Indiana to Stanford and on to the storied venture capital firm IVP - where she was one of the first women in the U.S. to make partner - only to be pulled back from the glass ceiling by expectations at home. Theresia Gouw, an overachieving first-generation Asian American from a working-class town, dominated the foosball tables at Brown (she would later reluctantly let Sergey Brin win to help Accel Partners court Google), before she helped land and build companies including Facebook, Trulia, Imperva, and ForeScout. Sonja Hoel, a Southerner who became the first woman investing partner at white-glove Menlo Ventures, invested in McAfee, Hotmail, Acme Packet, and F5 Networks. As her star was still rising at Menlo, a personal crisis would turn her into an activist overnight, inspiring her to found an all-women's investment group and a national nonprofit for girls.
These women, juggling work and family, shaped the tech landscape we know today while overcoming unequal pay, actual punches, betrayals, and the sexist attitudes prevalent in Silicon Valley and in male-dominated industries everywhere. Despite the setbacks, they would rise again to rewrite the rules for an industry they love. In Alpha Girls, Guthrie reveals their untold stories.