Hidden Figures meets The Social Network
Courtesy of Michael Batnick
I recently sat down with Julian Guthrie, New York Times bestselling author, to talk about her new book, Alpha Girls: The Women Upstarts Who Took On Silicon Valley’s Male Culture and Made the Deals of a Lifetime.
This book profiles four women who helped shape Silicon Valley as we know it today. Magdalena Yesil, for example, wrote the first check to Marc Benioff, founder, chairman, and CEO of Salesforce, the $118 billion behemoth. Other women in this story were early investors in Trulia, Twitter, Facebook, and other household names.
Unfortunately, these investors and entrepreneurs are outliers in an industry dominated by men. Here are some of the wild numbers from the book:
- 94% of partners at venture capital firms are men
- 85% of tech employees at top companies are men
- Less than 2% of venture dollars go to start-ups founded by women
Julian is shining light on an important story that needs to be told, and I’m excited to say that she won’t be the only one telling it. Alpha Girls is being made into a television, which somebody described as Hidden Figures meets The Social Network.
You can check out our conversation below and buy Alpha Girls here!
