Geek Girl Rising is all about females working in tech. It features Debbie Sterling who started GoldieBlox which is a product that I haven’t tried but absolutely LOVE the idea of – an engineering toy for girls – that I absolutely wish was around for me when I was younger! Also featured is Ipsy, the lead software developer of Pinterest, and a bunch of other kick ass women in tech. It talks a bit about sexism and overcoming to work in the field (this is a HUGE thing that unfortunately most women in this field have to put up with and overcome) and I love what they are doing! There definitely is room for females in the tech industry and a lot of really smart ones out there who are moving up the ranks as well as creating their own companies. There are a lot of great role models out there and this book focuses on a few of them.
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
Meet the women who haven’t asked for permission from Silicon Valley to chase their dreams. They are going for it — building the next generation of tech start-ups, investing in each other’s ventures, crushing male hacker stereotypes and rallying the next generation of women in tech. Geek Girl Rising isn’t about the famous tech trailblazers you already know, like Sheryl Sandberg and Marissa Mayer. Instead, veteran journalists Heather Cabot and Samantha Walravens introduce readers to the fearless female entrepreneurs and technologists fighting at the grassroots level for an ownership stake in the revolution that’s changing the way we live, work and connect to each other.
Readers will meet Debbie Sterling, inventor of GoldieBlox, the first engineering toy for girls, which topples the notion that only boys can build. They’ll get a peek inside YouTube sensation Michelle Phan’s ipsy studios, where she is grooming the next generation of digital video stars while leading her own mega e-commerce beauty business. They will sit down with Tracy Chou, former lead software developer at Pinterest, whose public urging in 2013 helped push Silicon Valley tech giants to reveal the tiny number of women in their ranks, propelling the “women in tech” conversation to front pages. They will tour the headquarters of The Muse, the hottest career site for millennials and meet its intrepid CEO, Kathryn Minshew, who stared down sexism while raising millions of dollars to fund the company she co-founded. And they will journey around the country to meet a new crop of female investors, including Theresia Gouw and Kathryn Finney, who are infusing women-led tech start-ups with much needed capital.
These women are the rebels proving that a female point of view matters in the age of technology and can rock big returns. At a time when women hold 26% of computing jobs in the U.S. and make up a tiny fraction of the entrepreneurs launching new tech companies, these stories shine a light on new role models who prove that in the fast-moving innovation economy, there is a place for anyone who has a big idea and the passion to build it.