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    Sophia of Silicon Valley: A Novel
    Sophia of Silicon Valley: A Novel
    Sophia of Silicon Valley: A Novel
    Audiobook11 hours

    Sophia of Silicon Valley: A Novel

    Written by Anna Yen

    Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Sharp, dramatic, and full of insider dish, SOPHIA OF SILICON VALLEY is one woman’s story of a career storming the corridors of geek power and living in the shadow of its outrageous cast of maestros.

    During the heady years of the tech boom, incorrigibly frank Sophia Young lucks into a job that puts her directly in the path of Scott Kraft, the eccentric CEO of Treehouse, a studio whose animated films are transforming movies forever. Overnight, Sophia becomes an unlikely nerd whisperer. Whether her success is due to dumb luck, savage assertiveness, insightful finesse (learned by dealing with her irrational Chinese immigrant mother), or a combination of all three, in her rarified position she finds she can truly shine.

    As Scott Kraft’s right-hand woman, whip-smart Sophia is in the eye of the storm, sometimes floundering, sometimes nearly losing relationships and her health, but ultimately learning what it means to take charge of her own future the way the men around her do. But when engineer/inventor Andre Stark hires her to run his company’s investor relations, Sophia discovers that the big paycheck and high-status career she’s created for herself may not be worth living in the toxic environment of a boys-club gone bad.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateApr 10, 2018
    ISBN9780062802996
    Author

    Anna Yen

    Anna Yen has worked at a wide range of tech companies. She spearheaded investor relations for industry leaders such as Tesla Motors, Market Watch, and Pixar Animations Studios, and reported directly to some of Silicon Valley's most respected leaders. She has co-founded several tech start-ups and is currently Managing Director at Ellipsis, an investor relations firm. She lives in San Francisco.

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    Reviews for Sophia of Silicon Valley

    3.5/5

    67 ratings19 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This makes for a good fiction if you have no idea about Silicon Valley whatsoever. Otherwise, don't read it.
    • 4/5
      I just finished reading Sophia of Silicon Valley. There were some funny sections in the book. I loved the names she came up with for well-known companies in Silicon Valley--especially Quince. She provided some insight of what goes on in the various companies Sophia worked in and I found that interesting. Most of her bosses ended up mentoring her which was refreshing. Overall, it was a good read.
    • 3/5
      This is a poorly-edited, poorly-written book that is being marketed as a girl-power, The Devil Wears Prada read-alike that is set in the world of Silicon Valley startups. It is not feminist at all, and is a VERY thinly-veiled account of the beginnings of Pixar and Tesla. The author/narrator (it's clear that they are one and the same) fawn incessantly over Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and other of her straight white male mentors. Their unprofessional and verbally abusive behavior, and often sexist and racist comments are passed off as funny in a "boys will be boys" sort of way, and their incredible genius (remarked upon constantly) seems to excuse all. The main character Sophia is juvenile, rude, and unprofessional, but we are clearly meant to find her quirky and fun. And how does she show us "girl power" in the end? By literally mimicking the abusive behavior and words of her male bosses. It just feels incredibly tone-deaf to release this book in the midst of the growing movement to call to task inappropriate behavior like this. It makes the book seem out-dated and irrelevant, even though it is all about cutting-edge technology. It is saddening to see how one of the few high-powered women in the tech industry (the author) lauds and perpetuates the idea of Silicon Valley as a boy's club in which she is the only woman, and that's due to the fact that she is abusive like a man, and yet constantly flirts to get her way. Yes, I get that this was probably the author's reality, but the problem is that she isn't critical of it all. Another thing that is baffling about this book is how little sense of place or even character she provides. The Devil Wears Prada is not a well-written book, but it definitely gives you a fascinating insider's view of the craziness of the fashion magazine business. This novel includes geographical inconsistencies that are glaring, and that, if I didn't know better, would lead me to believe the author hasn't spent much time in Silicon Valley.
    • 5/5
      The main character is very likeable. Her inner thoughts are quite funny and the story line does not ever lag. I looked forward to any chance I got to listen to this book.
    • 4/5
      There is definitely a lot of truth in this story. The challenges of being a woman in tech, overcoming stereotypes,etc. and all of that while being cheerful and entertaining.
    • 2/5
      I didn't finish this, despite the promise of its cover and its dust jacket - ultimately it seemed to be unfolding into a lot more of a fluffy rom-com type read than what I was hoping for.
    • 4/5
      Needing a change of pace from my mystery/historical fiction reading, I let my fingers do the walking through my ereader and stumbled across this techie-styled chick lit story (Yes, cover art usually gives a very good impression of what type of story is lurking inside). Nothing earth-shatteringly unique about this story, down to the thinly veiled caricatures of Steve Jobs/Pixar and Elon Musk/Tesla. While the story is based on the author's experience as a Silicon Valley veteran, it is easy to see Yen is a Lauren Weisberger fan, replacing the NYC fashion world of [The Devil Wears Prada] with her perspective of the Silicon Valley tech industry. So, a lot of familiar references for readers like me to connect with, which I like when I am in the mood for a light beach read. I found Sophia to be a fun character. She is spunky, outspoken, driven to succeed, and terrified of failure, which is kind of odd given that she has such an amazing support network in her family and friends. I enjoyed following Sophia as she navigates through the vaulted offices (and insane hours) of investment banking and IPOs to high energy vibe of tech startups and the life lessons learned from a creative visionary. Overall, a light-hearted professional coming-of-age story set in the fast-paced Silicon Valley tech scene.
    • 4/5
      An entertaining book about a quirky, young professional woman working in the male-dominated world of Silicon Valley. Sophia is making her way through the crazy world of start-ups, bro-tech culture, IPOs, overprotective parents and dating, while trying to remain fiercely independent and true to herself. It was the right time for me to read and experience this book and have Sophia in my life. **********Quotes: "I questioned again why I'd hesitated when Peter asked me about our long-term plans. Is it that I'm afraid I'll have yet another person depending on me? Or is it that I'm afraid he'd be yet another man telling me what to do, or worse, that he'd "fire" me?" "I know you've watched me closely, but watching from the sidelines is no way to live. You've got to get out there, study, and observe, Sophia. Try everything and anything that you find interesting because that journey, as rocky as it may be, will lead you to what you love." "You have to feel what you 'expect to have', not what you 'want'. Otherwise, you're just focusing on what's missing - and that's negative energy. "Life is short. You've got to reach out and grab what you want."
    • 2/5
      I really wanted to like this book. I was excited to read about Silicon Valley from an insider, and from the first page I could tell it was well-written. However Anna Yen's main character, Sophia, was not someone I could empathize with to the point where I couldn't enjoy the story. I tried to get into it, but I had to put it down after about 50 pages.
    • 4/5
      Oh, Sophia- you are a pistol! I loved reading Anna Yen's not so hidden real-life experiences working in Silicon Valley. Even the not so cryptic bosses that you worked for. Your silicon jobs were crazy, entertaining and not so surprising on some of the items you had to go through with the quirky people that run the brilliant business of the Valley.I laughed, got angry and even shook my head in shame with some of the things you had to go through. It was a pure entertaining read. Having lived in California, an hour away from your working grounds, I was always fascinated with how Silicon Valley worked and how so many brilliant people could handle being so close to each other in a small square mile or so. Sophia of Silicon Valley helped answer some of my questions.The book was well written, descriptive and a fun enlightening read.Thank you to Library Thing and Anna Yen for allowing me to read this book.
    • 4/5
      I thought this is about a female working in the IT industry, a male dominating industry, from the title. However, this is all about business but does not take place in New York City only. I do like this is as typical as the most chick-lits. It is about a minority with a medical condition focusing on her career path and struggles with her love life.
    • 3/5
      I loved the premise of this book - a young Asian woman working for a Tech giant in the US. I mean, how can you not like a book about a woman who is thriving in a male-dominated industry! It's very timely. Anna Yen's writing is also captivating in the novel. But I have one complaint about Sophia of Silicon Valley. I felt the ending was rushed - I would have loved to spend more time with Sophia. Other than that, this is a fun read! I can't wait to read what Anna writes next!
    • 3/5
      Anna is a diabetic young millennial who lands a job with a start up company similar to Pixar, right as the company goes public. Anna struggles to find her footing within the company and faces a high level of demands, both at work and with her family, who are a traditional Asian family with certain expectations for her. I did not make it all the way through this book because the level of detail in Anna's days was so specific, I felt like I was going to work too, just reading about all she had to do every day. I prefer my reading to be an escape from the daily grind and Anna's story exhausted me to the point I didn't want to continue. Others have certainly enjoyed this book, however, so maybe it just wasn't for me.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this smart, funny book about a strong woman who knows what she wants and knows how to get it (for the most part).Sophia Young is very smart, very sought-after, and not afraid to go toe-to-toe with the tech industry's most brilliant leaders. Growing up wealthy with a successful businessman father must have prepared Sophia for the business world, because even though she's only in her early 20s, she has a high-powered job at a tech company where she seems to do everything, and works very closely with the CEO. This story follows Sophia through her 20s as she works at a handful of tech startups where she invariably hits it out of the park at absolutely everything she does, and gets to talk to her superiors rudely and forcefully every chance she gets. And her male superiors just take it from her. Which I didn't find realistic at all, but then again, I don't work in Silicon Valley so maybe that is how it works. I liked that Sophia was successful and smart, although I found it pretty unbelievable how successful and business-wise she was at such a young age. It's a great story of female empowerment, but it was a bit fantastical. Setting aside certain ideas of what the business world is, I was able to just revel in the fun fantasy of this story. I won a copy of this book from LibraryThing.
    • 3/5
      No beating around the bush I had very mixed feelings about Sophia of Silicon Valley, and frankly struggled with it fellow readers. I have immense respect for anyone who undertakes the amazing task of writing a book, getting published, putting yourself out there for others to evaluate. It’s a Herculean effort I can’t begin to appreciate and for that alone I really dislike giving even lukewarm reviews and try to focus on positive aspects. Art is subjective and just because something doesn’t speak to me does’t mean it won’t make someone else soar. When reading for personal pleasure I vet my choices pretty heavily. When given the privilege to review a book I try to go in without much information, a clean slate. I don’t want to be influenced by others experience. Because of this I’m probably one of the few that didn’t realize Sophia of Silicone Valley is hardly fiction, and more accurately a thinly veiled memoir by the author Anna Yen. Names are changed, but it took me less then 100 pages to go from “Wow, she’s really borrowing from some real life people here.” to “Wait, there’s no way this is fiction!” and I started googling. If you’re going to write a memoir simply own it. I sincerely dislike the duplicity used here. I also struggled with the blasé acceptance and apologies made for the sexism and racism. You don’t have to be overly reactive, but it seems extremely tone deaf to laugh it off. To make it worse the ‘protagonist’ goes on to engage in fairly abrasive behavior herself as she moves up the food chain. For positive female empowerment look elsewhere. Circling back to the fact that this is a memoir and not fiction, she’s simply writing her experiences and how she felt about them. I take full responsibility for not understanding more fully the nature of the book. If I’d vetted it as I do pleasure reading I’d have know this wasn’t a match for me personally. Well written, interesting, and probably a much better read if you go in understanding it’s a memoir, perhaps slightly fictionalized to suit the author. Thank you to LibraryThing and William Morrow for the advanced reader copy and the opportunity to review Sophia of Silicon Valley.
    • 3/5
      This is a quick escapist read about a young woman trying to make it in Silcon Valley. She becomes the Personal Assistant of a Steve Jobs-like CEO and then an entrepreneur who makes her the head of his investor relations department. long the way, however, she runs smack dab into the toxic "bro" environment that is rampant in the computer industry that causes her to question whether or not her status career is worth it.This is a fun read for the summer.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed getting a behind the scenes look at life in Silicon Valley high tech firms and a law firm that is associated with them. The main character was fun and quirky, but I'm not sure how realistic it would be for her to do so well with the responsibilities she's given for which she had no experience or qualifications. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable read and I was interested to see what happened. I wish the author had created original characters to be Sophia's bosses rather than clones of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. It was interesting to learn about the volatile world of public stock offerings.Although the book cover might give the impression that the book is chick lit, the book actually had some real substance while still being entertaining.
    • 4/5
      The novel follows the story of Sophia from her beginnings as recent college grad from northern California looking to kill a few years working in an office while she hunts for a husband to accomplished tech industry guru for high profile companies preparing for their IPOs. The characters and companies she interacts with are barely disguised versions of Steve Jobs, Apple, Pixar, Elon Musk, and Tesla. Sophia is not always the most likable, but I certainly loved some of the power moves she pulls at the end of the book. This was an easy read and would have been a good plane/vacation/beach book.
    • 4/5
      Disclaimer: I received a copy for review.Anna Yen takes an affectionate poke at the people, brands, and technologies that put Silicon Valley on the map.