Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble, by Dan Lyons

Dan Lyons was a journalist for many years, most recently for Newsweek, before he was fired in 2012. He worked for a while as a writer for a technology news website, but it was less than ideal because it required him to commute to San Francisco from Boston every week. Eventually he decided to leave journalism and take a job in marketing for a technology company called HubSpot.

Disrupted tells the story of Mr. Lyons' 18 or so months at HubSpot, where in his early 50s, he's an old man surrounded by co-workers whose average age is 26. His job is to write the kind of click-bait blog posts that will get readers to provide their contact information. They will later be cold-called by a sales representative who will try to sell them web content management and other services. Mr. Lyons is disappointed that the job was not as creative as he had hoped, and every suggestion that he makes to managers is rejected or co-opted by someone else. His slightly cynical attitude doesn't go over well with his co-workers who have been brainwashed into thinking they're working for the best company in the world. He finds some of the company's management techniques ludicrous, such as bringing a teddy bear to meetings to represent the customer, and he makes the mistake of sharing his opinions about them. Over time, Mr. Lyons is marginalized and given work that is more appropriate for an administrative assistant. The environment becomes so toxic for him that he begins to look for another job. Once he has an offer, he gives six weeks' notice, but then is immediately fired.

While I found his culture shock and personality clashes humorous, what I liked most about this book was its analysis of what seems like a scam in the technology industry. Companies are formed, they offer a product or service, most of the influx of cash from venture capitalists go into marketing and sales so that they can demonstrate an increase in revenue, and then they go public. Meanwhile, they never make a profit. The founders and venture capitalists make a big profit, but the employees and investors make very little. Many of these companies have existed for years but have never made a profit. I don't know how they get away with it! I recommend this book to anyone who's interested in the technology industry, business, management, or marketing.

Dan Lyons. Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble. New York: Hachette, 2016. 258 pages. ISBN 0316306089.