Alpha Girls: The Women Upstarts Who Took on Silicon Valley’s Male Culture and Made the Deals of a Lifetime

Author: Julian Guthrie

Number of Pages: 304

‘ALPHA GIRLS will be a story to make you laugh and cry. It will inspire and infuriate you. It will be a must-read for women of all ages.’ – Arianna Huffington For all its trailblazing, world-shaping innovation, Silicon Valley has long been a mysterious, male-dominated world and, at its worst, a toxic environment in which to be a woman. Recent exposes have revealed sexist ‘bro-cultures’ at top tech companies, ranging from sexual harassment lawsuits in which women are routinely excluded from all-male ski trips to the partner at a leading VC firm who, when asked by a reporter whether there were talented females candidates on the job market, replied ‘we’re not prepared to lower our standards.’ How is it possible that a community with such forward-looking technology, could take such a backward approach to gender relations? ALPHA GIRLS dives into this enigmatic world, going behind the scenes at Facebook, Microsoft, McAfee, Google, Tesla and more to reveal the history of Silicon Valley from the point of view of the women who have witnessed and participated in its rise to global domination of the business landscape. Julian Guthrie focuses on a small group of self-made women who, outnumbered and underestimated, helped launch the modern computer industry, and are today renowned figures in the VC world of the Valley. ALPHA GIRLS is an inspiring, groundbreaking, true story about women taking enormous risks, playing by the men’s rules, juggling work and family, all the while refusing to be limited by the expectations of others. These alpha girls – as well as men in the industry – have granted Julian incredible, unprecedented access to an otherwise closed community.