I Hate Mark Zuckerberg

Imagine Office Space meets The Social Network, sprinkled with the absurd satire of HBO's Silicon Valley. That's the world of "I Hate Mark Zuckerberg."

When ambitious high school student Russell sits down for a career day interview, he thinks he's found the perfect subject: Brad Bailey, an early tech entrepreneur. Russell wants the secrets to success. What he gets is a raw, unfiltered, and darkly hilarious confession from a self-proclaimed "war-weary" veteran of the dot-com bust, a man practically vibrating with the need to finally tell his side of the story.

Brad eagerly recounts the rise and spectacular flameout of IdeaPals, his attempt to build an original social network in the chaotic wake of the first tech bubble. Forget inspiring tales of overnight success; Brad's narrative is a hilarious, often painful chronicle of obsession ("We were going to change everything!"), envy ("Why him? Why Zuckerberg?"), and the sheer agony of watching your dream implode.

Get ready for a wild ride through the trenches of startup land, circa early 2000s. Brad's eccentric story is rife with shady con men promising easy riches, soul-crushing demands from clueless investors, devastating lawsuits that appear out of nowhere, passionate love that sours under the relentless pressure, stinging betrayals from former friends and coding partners, and, of course, mountains of seriously buggy code held together by caffeine, hope, and maybe a little bit of duct tape. It's a frantic, often funny, sometimes heartbreaking pursuit of the American Dream - Silicon Valley style, where the line between visionary and lunatic is perilously thin.

"I Hate Mark Zuckerberg" is more than just a tech story; it's a witty, cautionary tale about the human cost of ambition, the blurry lines between genius and delusion, and why sometimes, the only thing left to do after your startup crashes is tell the whole damn story - especially if it makes the billionaire who did succeed look like a lucky punk.