Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Mike Trigg. We’ll be talking about the intricacies of Silicon Valley and his book Bit Flip.
Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter, especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from our podcast producer with recaps of the most recent episodes, a curated Listening List of episodes on a particular theme, and other fun goodies we only share via email. Best of all, it’s free to join! The theme for August is Middle Grade, and you can become an insider by signing up with your email at diymfa.com/insiders.
In this episode Mike Trigg and I discuss:
- Ensuring a story about an industry insider has universal appeal.
- Keeping authenticity in the industry language used after editing.
- How to balance backstory with the fast pace of your story.
Plus, his #1 tip for writers.
About Mike Trigg
Prior to becoming an author, Mike Trigg was an executive, founder, and investor in various technology start-up companies for over 25 years. Born in Kentucky and raised in Wisconsin, he earned a BA from Northwestern University and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.
After several years working for a U.S. Senator in Washington, D.C., Mike began his career in the technology industry, working for telecommunications giants MCI and 3Com. He was an early employee of Octane Software, which was acquired by Epiphany during the first dot-com boom. He went on to co-found a data analytics company called Truviso (acquired by Cisco) then became VP of marketing at hi5, one of the world’s largest social networks. More recently, Mike was Chief Marketing Officer and GM at Entelo, a recruiting software company, and Chief Operating Officer at cloud file sharing vendor, Hightail (formerly YouSendIt), which was acquired by OpenText. Mike was an entrepreneur-in-residence at AI Fund and SymphonyAI, both AI-focused, early-stage venture funds, and an advisor at Shasta Ventures.
Mike has been a contributor to TechCrunch, Entrepreneur, and Fast Company. He lives in Menlo Park, California, with his wife and two sons. Launching August 16, 2022, Bit Flip is his first novel.
You can find him on his website or follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.
Bit Flip
Tech executive Sam Hughes came to Silicon Valley to “make the world a better place.” He’s just not sure he’s doing that anymore. When an onstage meltdown sends Sam into a professional tailspin, he suddenly sees the culture of the Bay Area’s tech bubble in a new, cynical light.
Just as he’s wondering if his start-up career and marriage might both be over at fortysomething, an inadvertent discovery pulls Sam back into his former company, where he begins to unravel the insidious schemes of the founder and venture investors that led to his ouster.
Driven by his desire for redemption, Sam discovers a conspiracy of fraud, blackmail, and manipulation that leads to tragic outcomes—threatening to destroy not only the company but Sam’s moral compass as well. Entangled in a web of complicity, how far will Sam go to achieve his dreams of entrepreneurial success and personal wealth?
BIT FLIP is a corporate thriller that delivers an authentic insider’s view of the corrupting influences of greed, entitlement, and vanity in technology start-ups.
If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!
Link to Episode 424
(Right-click to download.)
If you liked this episode…
Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.
Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.
Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!
