Brotopia

Breaking Up the Boys' Club of Silicon Valley

By: Emily Chang

Narrated by: Emily Chang

Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Instant National Best Seller

A PBS News Hour-New York Times Book Club Pick!

"Excellent." (San Francisco Chronicle)

"Brotopia is more than a business book. Silicon Valley holds extraordinary power over our present lives as well as whatever utopia (or nightmare) might come next." (New York Times)

Silicon Valley is a modern utopia where anyone can change the world. Unless you're a woman.

For women in tech, Silicon Valley is not a fantasy land of unicorns, virtual reality rainbows, and 3D-printed lollipops, where millions of dollars grow on trees. It's a "Brotopia," where men hold all the cards and make all the rules. Vastly outnumbered, women face toxic workplaces rife with discrimination and sexual harassment, where investors take meetings in hot tubs and network at sex parties.

In this powerful exposé, Bloomberg TV journalist Emily Chang reveals how Silicon Valley got so sexist despite its utopian ideals, why bro culture endures despite decades of companies claiming the moral high ground (Don't Be Evil! Connect the World!)--and how women are finally starting to speak out and fight back.

Drawing on her deep network of Silicon Valley insiders, Chang opens the boardroom doors of male-dominated venture capital firms like Kleiner Perkins, the subject of Ellen Pao's high-profile gender discrimination lawsuit, and Sequoia, where a partner once famously said they "won't lower their standards" just to hire women. Interviews with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and former Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer--who got their start at Google, where just one in five engineers is a woman--reveal just how hard it is to crack the Silicon Ceiling. And Chang shows how women such as former Uber engineer Susan Fowler, entrepreneur Niniane Wang, and game developer Brianna Wu, have risked their careers and sometimes their lives to pave a way for other women.

Silicon Valley's aggressive, misogynistic, work-at-all costs culture has shut women out of the greatest wealth creation in the history of the world. It's time to break up the boys' club. Emily Chang shows us how to fix this toxic culture--to bring down Brotopia, once and for all.

©2018 Emily Chang (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"[Chang] is clearly engaged with and often incensed by her subject, and the best parts of Brotopia are those moments when she actively resists the 'it's all good' ethos of the Bay Area and cuts down chauvinism with the disdain it deserves." (New York Times)

"Brotopia goes far beyond the salacious to offer an important examination of why the technology industry is so dominated by men - and how women are pushing back." (Financial Times)

"When reading Brotopia, it's easy to envision it as a film…. Women who have triumphed in tech despite the odds…could be the film's heroines, and so would the young girls learning how to code despite it all." (The Verge)

Important, well-researched, nicely performed!

Thank you to Emily for writing this important and timely book. I have followed the Silicon Valley news regarding harassment in the past few years, so I was aware of the individual incidents. However, the way that Emily weaves these events into a coherent narrative is helpful and quite enlightening. I am a better person, and a better white male, for having read it.

Excellent reporting

Emily Chang has a wonderful track record of journalism and her analysis and empathy shone through in the compilation of the book. It’s always a bonus when the author is the narrator, and given she reports for a living she gave a stellar performance on that front as well. Would highly recommend.

Eye Opening

This book should be required reading for all silicon valley leaders. Having lived in the silicon valley since 1993 I am familiar with many of the stories shared with in this book and to get the perspectives from the victims themselves has increase my awareness surrounding professional behavior in the workplace. Emily Chang did a fantastic job! Congratulations to her and her team!

it might take you a while

the main reason it took me a month to finish was because I would get so frustrated with how accurate it was that I would need a break to accept the reality of our culture and really let myself digest it. to have this information laid out in such a thoughtful way, it is almost comforting for women to have these experiences validated by data and hopefully eye-opening for men to understand why women are so frustrated. I am not in the industry, but I really appreciated this book and the author on so many levels.

A brilliant and eye opening book

Emily has created a fantastic book that is incredibly eye opening to the world of broculture, especially within the tech community and silicon Valley. I highly recommend you read this book.

Unfortunately, this book is needed

Emily Chang's exploration into the tech industry was insightful and necessary. It's a must read for every future unicorn founder and computer science major. It's time we start to walk the walk when it comes to inclusivity and diversity in the industry. Women should not have to toughen up or play the game to have a fulfilling career in technology. This is the first book I have ever read that didn't leave me feeling like I'm crazy and I don't belong. Thank you Emily Chang.

Amazing and Inspiring!

Emily Chang hits the ball out of the park with Brotopia! Working in Silicon Valley and hearing the history and in that history the struggle for women entrepreneurs has caught me off guard. I did not know it could be that lopsided. Emily narrates the story beautifully and eloquently. I love the case she makes for a more inclusive tech industry! She gives tremendous insights, facts, and accounts from many people who have experienced this "Brotopia." Hearing the audiobook on my way to work brightened my mornings and educated me. I highly recommend everyone add this to their wish list.

Not what I expected, but eye opening.

I expected more scandalous details, but was overall impressed with the points made. All men should read this book just to help bring to light what it is like to be a working woman.

I would have preferred less of an I hate Trump narrative because it is exhausting, but I’m not the author and political bias is her right.

Excellent book for all individuals in the workplace. Especially male dominated industries. Please read/listen.

Astonishing Look at Silicone Valley

As a person who works in health care in San Francisco, I was eager to learn more about those who earn their living in the technology field. This book did not disappoint. It should be read by every woman *and* man who either work or aspire to work within the many walls of technology. Many of us know that women had a harder time of it in technology, but the reasons were vague. This sets the out: how the barriers started and how and why they continue.
The author read her text fairly well.

All Bad Reviews Written by Sexist Men!

Some go so far to intimate that only men are solely responsible for civilization’s advancements - so how dare this author criticize us?!? Men effectively barring women’s participation explains both parts of that question. And the author proves it. These men dislike how effectively the author calls out their patterns of egregiously unethical behavior. The research evidence she provides to show the patterns of sexism to be insidious and widespread is powerful and compelling. And MIT just released a report corroborating ALL her findings. The disproportionate defensiveness demonstrated by the misogynistic reviewers is a sure sign you should read it!