An unforgettable story of four women who, through grit and ingenuity, became stars in the cutthroat, high-stakes, male dominated world of venture capital in Silicon Valley, and helped build some of the foremost companies of our time.

In Alpha Girls, award-winning journalist Julian Guthrie takes readers behind the closed doors of venture capital, an industry that transforms economies and shapes how we live. We follow the lives and careers of four women who were largely written out of history - until now.

Magdalena Yesil, who arrived in America from Turkey with $43 to her name, would go on to receive her electrical engineering degree from Stanford, found some of the first companies to commercialize internet access, and help Marc Benioff build Salesforce. Mary Jane Elmore went from the corn fields of Indiana to Stanford and on to the storied venture capital firm IVP - where she was one of the first women in the U.S. to make partner - only to be pulled back from the glass ceiling by expectations at home. Theresia Gouw, an overachieving first-generation Asian American from a working-class town, dominated the foosball tables at Brown (she would later reluctantly let Sergey Brin win to help Accel Partners court Google), before she helped land and build companies including Facebook, Trulia, Imperva, and ForeScout. Sonja Hoel, a Southerner who became the first woman investing partner at white-glove Menlo Ventures, invested in McAfee, Hotmail, Acme Packet, and F5 Networks. As her star was still rising at Menlo, a personal crisis would turn her into an activist overnight, inspiring her to found an all-women's investment group and a national nonprofit for girls.

These women, juggling work and family, shaped the tech landscape we know today while overcoming unequal pay, actual punches, betrayals, and the sexist attitudes prevalent in Silicon Valley and in male-dominated industries everywhere. Despite the setbacks, they would rise again to rewrite the rules for an industry they love. In Alpha Girls, Guthrie reveals their untold stories.

An unforgettable story of four women who came to California to try to make it in a world stacked against them. Through grit and ingenuity, the women became stars in cutthroat, high-stakes, male dominated Silicon Valley and helped build some of the most important companies of our day. They were written out of history - until now.

In Alpha Girls, award-winning journalist Julian Guthrie takes readers behind the closed doors of venture capital, an industry that transforms economies and shapes how we live. We follow the lives and careers of Magdalena Yesil, a fiercely focused émigré from Turkey who, after getting her electrical engineering degree from Stanford, endured tech conferences that featured naked women as entertainment; Mary Jane Hanna, who made her way from the corn fields of Terre Haute to the storied venture capital firm IVP on Sand Hill Road, only to be pulled back from the glass ceiling by expectations at home; Theresia Gouw, a first generation Asian American from a working class town who was so determined to integrate into American life that she refused to eat ethnic food, and who competed with the venture capital guys even on the football field; and Sonja Hoel, a cheerful blue-eyed Southerner who moved to Silicon Valley to join Menlo Ventures after getting her MBA from Harvard, landed hot Internet deals, and was transformed by a personal crisis. All had to navigate a world run by men, push for equal pay, and deflect sexist attitudes and clients who made passes or mistook them for secretaries. They won and lost startup deals ranging from Google and Facebook to Salesforce and Skype.

Granted unparalleled access to the secretive VC universe, Guthrie intimately details the women's victories and defeats, their struggles to juggle work and family, and the broadsides they suffered when they least expected it. Despite the setbacks, they would rise again to rewrite the rules for an industry they love. In Alpha Girls, Guthrie reveals their untold stories.

84042070