Startup

From the veteran online journalist Doree Shafrir, a sharp, hugely entertaining story of youth, ambition, love, money and technology's inability to hack human nature.

“PRAISE FOR STARTUP:”

"Startup is a clever novel about trying to connect in the tech-heavy world we live in now."--Brenda Janowitz, PopSugar
"Startup is a dramedy-of-errors, a Shakespearean yarn of secrets, sex, miscommunication, misogyny, and money...Crack this one open on the beach and you just might find yourself a little more enlightened when you return to the workplace."
--Lexi Pandell, Wired.com, 9 Essential Summer Reads
"Startup is compulsively readable. You will probably finish it in a day, because you will never find a reason to put it down."
--Alex Balk, The Awl
"Startup may have read as satire a decade ago but feels like historical record today. Shafrir's precise eye for detail takes stock of the tech industry's favorite answers for tough questions ... Startup is about more than business. It navigates the rocky foundation of relationships, journalism's importance, sexual harassment, and digital careerism."--Andy Newman, The Millions
"Startup's greatest accomplishment is the care and sensitivity with which it adapts app-based communication for a more traditionally novelistic format...As the world hurtles ever onward at a breakneck clip, Startup illustrates the dystopian quality of our destabilizing present by generating nostalgia for it. "--Helen Holmes, Rolling Stone
"[A] smart, breezy novel... a beach read for Silicon Valley fans."
--Entertainment Weekly
"[A] timely page-turner."
--Cosmopolitan
"[A] very contemporary screwball comedy, this is a cheerful satire... good, dizzy fun, if you can put your iPad down long enough to read it."
--Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times
"A funny, delicious and charming novel about the alternate reality of startups #divine."--Delia Ephron, author of Siracusa
"A pitch-perfect depiction of the industry's culture and sexual politics."--Elle
"A pointed illustration of the tech world's cults of personality, the outsized egos that believe something like a mindfulness app could change the world, and the seedy underbelly of all that workplace closeness: sexual harassment."--Angela Shah, Xconomy
"A satire about the New York tech scene that pulls no punches when it comes to inconsistencies between the rhetoric around humane, supportive office culture and many workers' realities."
--Evie Nagy, The Official Slack Blog
"A searing yet hilarious novel, Doree Shafrir, senior culture writer at Buzzfeed, hands readers a promising-and a promise-fulfilling-debut."
--Ilana Masad, Read It Forward
"Buzzfeed writer Shafrir's debut is full of humor and layered in truth as she exposes the underbelly of start-up culture."--Library Journal
"Close out of Twitter and start turning the pages of this novel by a Buzzfeed writer who gives us a glimpse into Flatiron-based startup culture."--Melissa Kravitz, amNY, Summer Beach Reads
"Don't buy this book. Don't open. Don't start reading it. Because if you do, I can assure you, you won't be able to put it down. I was hooked from the first page and found myself lost in a beautifully-written fiction that so succinctly echoes today's bizarre reality."
--Nick Bilton, Special Correspondent, Vanity Fair and author of Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal
"Doree Shafrir is so spot-on in her observations about the tech world that it's hard not to think this novel must be telling the juicy truth-and in a way it is. Sharp, compelling, and expertly written."
--Jade Chang, author of The Wangs vs. The World
"Doree Shafrir, senior culture writer at Buzzfeed, has written a novel of manners for the digital age. Startup could be called Pride and Prejudice and Tech Bros; Shafrir turns a sharp eye on the culture of techy startups and their unspoken moral codes."--Heather Scott Partington, Las Vegas Weekly
"Doree Shafrir's Startup is like a thrilling combination of Po Bronson's Bombardiers and Jessica Knoll's Luckiest Girl Alive. Shafrir has set heartbreak and romance in the ticking clock environment of startups and the result is a topical, funny and perfectly observed document of our insane times."--Karl Taro Greenfeld, author of Triburbia and The Subprimes
"Eerily on-point in its illustration of this universe-especially when it comes to gender dynamics."--Hope Reese, Hazlitt
"Exacting, though not without empathy--Shafrir renders even the most infuriating of her characters with unexpected humanity-the novel is a page-turning pleasure that packs a punch. To call it expertly observed is an understatement."--Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
"Fast-paced and engaging...Shafrir's touch is just right in this debut novel. She's got the excesses of this industry nailed."--Shawna Seed, Dallas Morning News
"Funny and unflinching, Shafrir's cast is chock full of strong women taking charge of a world the boys still think is their own... [a] sharp debut novel".--Girlboss
"Funny, hip and clever, Shafrir's Startup slices through the world of tech startups and the kids running them."
--Shelf Awareness
"Giddy fun...satirical genius."
--Marion Winik, Newsday
"Highly entertaining... this is my pick for your beach bag."
--Lexi Mainland, A Cup of Jo
"I tore through Startup in two days. It could've been one, but I had to eat, sleep, and feed my cats-all normal activities that became frustrating distractions while reading this book. Well-observed and told with a crackling wit, this debut is one of the best I've read so far this year."--Amy Brady, Lit Hub
"If you love smart, true-to-life novels and are fascinated by the startup world, this is the book for you."--Bookish
"In an industry ripe for satire and criticism, Shafrir tweaks the startup culture beautifully while introducing characters you will actually care about."
--James McQuiston, NeuFutur
"In her debut, BuzzFeed culture writer Shafrir skewers a world she knows well--startup culture and the outlets assigned to cover it."--Publishers Weekly
"Is there a satirist alive more brilliant--and more insightful--than Doree Shafrir? That I tore through Startup in a single day--ignoring the cries of my children and the dinging of my phone, laughing with recognition at her characters' foibles-is perhaps not nearly as significant as the fact that this ridiculously compelling novel has haunted me, every minute, in the weeks that followed. If you have ever lived in New York or worked in an office, you will love this novel. If you love the novels of Tom Perrotta, you will love this novel. But also: If you are a sentient human, you will love this novel."--Joanna Rakoff, author of My Salinger Year and A Fortunate Age
"It explores modern workplace culture while highlighting the strengths of women who work--this is a must-read that you won't be able to put down."--Alexandra Wilson, Stylefox
"Move over, Silicon Valley. Shafrir's satirical novel is set in the New York tech scene, where a cast of characters are swept into the rise (and viral fall) of a mindfulness app called TakeOff. A tech writer herself, Shafrir makes incisive, astute, and all too real observations on the idiosyncrasies of the industry. This a fun, breezy, utterly millennial read."--Elena Nicolaou, Refinery29, Best Beach Reads 2017
"Our favorite BuzzFeed editor brings her storytelling prowess to the next level in this dazzling debut about the adventures (and misadventures) of one startup... Startup belongs on your summer TRL."
--Brit + Co.
"Part of the joy of reading Startup is deciphering which parts are based in fact and which are fiction, but even if you don't care about guessing who's who you'll find the read a charming one."--Maris Kreizman, Vulture
"Shafrir has a deft, easy touch, but her take on gender politics in the workplace is razor-sharp. This ruthlessly clever look behind the scenes at a New York start-up demands a sequel."
--Kim Hubbard, People
"Shafrir presents a humorous and thoughtful meditation about both the sexism in tech, and its counterpoint, as one character describes it: today's 'very male-hostile moment.' More than anything, the book will leave you wishing there were more like it."
--Anne VanderMey, Fortune
"Shafrir smartly - but lovingly - skewers tech culture, its grandiose leaders and the naivety of thinking that good intentions, lots of money and a mindset of fun will prevent bad behaviors in the workplace."--Matt Tiffany, Portland Press Herald
"Shafrir's compulsively readable debut novel is hilarious, smart, and timely; it feels like a necessary read right now, so perfectly does it deal with issues like the insatiable media, the weird place where wellness and technology meet, and why white men suck so badly-especially when they have just a little bit of power."--Kristin Iversen, Nylon
"Smart, amusing... a coming-of-age novel for these digital times.... Doree Shafrir manages to hold our interest for more than 140 characters as she pokes fun at a group of young overachievers in this old-school written form."--Clea Simon, Boston Globe
"Some people are calling Startup a satire, but you get the feeling that there's very little air between Doree Shafrir's alternately hilarious and unsettling novel and reality."
--Adam Rathe, Town & Country
"Takes jabs at the pretentiousness that's all too common among the young and brash tech workforce."
--Michael B. Farrell, Christian Science Monitor
"The book aptly skewers the trappings of the tech industry, but also gets to the heart of one of its most a persistent and pernicious issues--its treatment of women."--Nina Zipkin, Entrepreneur Magazine
"This entertaining story is about youth, ambition, love, money and of course the startup world."
--Allanah Dykes, Levo
"This funny, empowering debut is chock-full of strong women transcending the workplace drama, sexual politics, and all-around dumb stuff the men in their life are doing. It's a novel that just might spark the official feministing of startup culture. If I were a tech bro, I'd be shaking in my hoodie."--Camille Perri, author of The Assistants
"Though often wickedly witty, Startup is so much more than mere satire; it's a smart, deeply empathetic novel genuinely interested in exploring the way we live now."
--Rumaan Alam, author of Rich and Pretty
"What a tremendous book. Fun, breezy and charming. I think I finally understand the Internet and I'm both gladdened and depressed."
--Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story
"While everyone's obsessing over followers, likes, retweets, and comments, Shafrir smartly dissects age, gender, and workplace politics."--Booklist
A "deliciously detailed satire."
--Jenny Comita, W Magazine

Doree Shafrir is a senior culture writer at BuzzFeed News and has written for New York Magazine, Slate, The Awl, Rolling Stone, Wired and other publications. A former resident of Brooklyn, she now lives in Los Angeles with her husband Matt Mira, a comedy writer and podcaster, and their dog Beau.

From the veteran online journalist Doree Shafrir, a sharp, hugely entertaining story of youth, ambition, love, money and technology's inability to hack human nature. Mack McAllister has a $600 million dollar idea. His mindfulness app, TakeOff, is already the hottest thing in tech and he's about to launch a new and improved version that promises to bring investors running. Katya Pasternack, an ambitious young journalist at a gossipy tech blog, is hungry for a scoop that will drive traffic. Sabrina Choe Blum, an exhausted mother of two and failed creative writer, just wants to stay afloat as she tries to escape from her credit card debt and an inattentive husband--who also happens to be Katya's boss. Before the ink on Mack's latest round of funding is dry, an errant text message hints that he may be working a bit too closely for comfort with a young social media manager in his office. When Mack's bad behavior collides with Katya's search for a salacious post, Sabrina gets caught in the middle as TakeOff goes viral for all the wrong reasons. As the fallout engulfs the lower Manhattan office building where all three work, it's up to Katya and Sabrina to write the story the men in their lives would prefer remain untold.

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