Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change

Reset is required reading for all leaders and persons seeking to become leaders. As an engineer in San Francisco and Silicon Valley for over 15 years, this is the most accurate account of the often toxic work culture here. Ellen Pao’s life story is extraordinary and fascinating. She’s known to be an incredibly private person, however, in the book you learn of her family upbringing and her marriage to Buddy Fletcher. Ellen gives great insight into the structure and workings of Venture Capitalism. The book is infuriating, but also pee-in-my pants funny as hell. You will roll your eyes many times. The absurdity, arrogance and ignorance of the dominantly male managing partners at Kleiner Perkins will make you want to punch them in the face through the pages of this book. I especially liked the last chapter where she gives wonderful advice to her readers about how to navigate your career and how to make better choices based on her experience. Don’t even bother with Lean-In, Reset is the book to read!

The bulk of Reset covers Pao's experience suing one of the most powerful VC firms in the Valley, KPCB, for gender discrimination. The trial was closely watched by the tech world, with daily courtroom coverage from many of the best known tech publications. Reporters weren't always the most sympathetic during the trial, but it's now widely seen as a pivotal point in Silicon Valley's reckoning with its gender issues. Interestingly enough, I read the book after observing Pao's expertly crafted tour of the press. She has clearly learned from her trial experience: the high quality publicity she and her team drummed up for the release of the book included NYT articles, as well as positive coverage in pretty much every major paper out there. But this brings me to my main criticism of this book: much like the press received over the past few weeks, parts of Reset felt too deliberately engineered. This was particularly true about the first part of the book, namely her coverage of her pre-tech life. She provides some vignettes about how she's fought for women and minorities in her school years, implying that this foreshadows her later battle. I have no doubt these things happened, but Pao's attempt to paint herself as a lifelong fighter for disadvantaged groups fell flat for me. I got the same vibe from the ending of her book. My read of what happened is that this trial was more about her seeking justice for herself rather than anyone else. Pao is not a martyr. She is a businesswoman - a successful one with a good story to tell. And it is indeed a great story: the middle sections of the book covering her career in tech, her experiences in VC as well as what happened during her trial were worth slogging through the first parts. We get her honest voice describing at times amazing and at times harrowing experiences. It's all particularly compelling because of Pao's ability to make us empathize with her by not shying away from describing the personal toll of the trial. Her writing shines brightest then. In all, I struggled with rating this book. I think three stars is a bit low and four is a bit much - 3.5 is what I'd pick if it were allowed by Amazon. She is obviously a gifted writer and has a unique take on one of the biggest gender scandals in tech. Parts of Reset feel non-genuine though.

Disclosure: I am biased because I am a huge fan of Ellen's. Also, I am a woman in technology. The story of any place or institution is so often written by the victors (whether they came by their victory fairly or not is another matter). And so, Silicon Valley's story has long been an ode to white male privilege dressed up in the shiny veneer of "meritocracy". Ellen's court case against her then-employer Kleiner Perkins was when all of that pretense started to unravel, and I'm glad she's now written this book to tell her full story. It's a chronological narrative that starts with her childhood and school years, continues through her work experiences in law and various tech companies -- the juiciest bits are at Kleiner and reddit -- and concludes with her latest initiative, Project Include. It reads very easily, especially with Ellen's dry sense of humor to make the misogyny and general utter ridiculousness of the tech/VC industry amusing instead of just maddening. I got Reset the day it came out and was finished by mid-day that day. For anyone working in or aspiring to work in tech, Ellen offers a critically important perspective.

Reading Ellen Pao's book is a lesson in culture. Corporate cultures can be like a frog in a pot of water; we sit in what we have always done until the water boils over. Society can be similar, with a pile on effect - good and bad. Ellen tells a story that raises our awareness and incents our actions to stand up for cultural change. I read Ellen's book over the course of two days. She writes in a to-the-point manner but with a slow burn. We feel the tensions rise. No matter our make-up, we feel how a corporate culture turns against someone. One point that hits home is that many of us are observers of how culture can be negative and hurtful but few lead change. In Reset, Ellen's story motivates more to lead change. Ellen demonstrates immense courage while showing the toll and the renewal emerging from her experiences. Reset should be required reading in any organizational behavior and culture class, especially in business schools. Lessons in diversity, awareness, change, and leadership are abound.

Good read.

A detailed, no drama and solid account by Ellen Pao of howher experience and the discriminatory system in Silicon Valley tech and VC world operates-only by understanding this and activity such as hers will the world and powerful interests evolve.

Important book by Ellen Pao and very topical. She comes across as fairly self-centred but guess that's the point of the book. The tech world she describes is still dominated by nerdy guys who probably always struggled with women. Fair play to her for standing up to them. n