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Will Watching Bravo’s New ‘Silicon Valley’ Reality Show Make You Dumber?

Will Randi Zuckerberg pull off a realistic portrayal of startup life? Or will she leave unsuspecting “non-entrepreneurial” viewers with nothing more than superficial entertainment value while actual entrepreneurs...

Several weeks ago, Bravo – the cable TV channel famed for pop culture reality shows, fashion shows, makeovers, and celebrities — announced their new reality show entitled ‘Silicon Valley.’

Mark Zuckerberg’s sister Randi Zuckerberg, the show’s producer,  aims to follow the lives of five young professionals and demonstrate what it’s like to start a company.

The show will feature Hermione Way of The Next Web and Newspepper, Kim Taylor of Ampush Media, and Dwight Crow founder of Carsabi.com, Marcus Lovingood, Founder of Futureleap, and Ben Way, Founder of The Rainmakers, among others.

Will Zuckerberg (Randi) pull off a realistic portrayal of startup life? Or will she leave unsuspecting “non-entrepreneurial” viewers with nothing more than superficial entertainment value while actual entrepreneurs flip the channel — bewildered and unaffected?

What to Expect from Bravo’s Version of ‘Silicon Valley’

Given that reality TV programming presents (ostensibly) unscripted dramatic or humorous situations while documenting actual events — how much ideation, iteration, and execution will actually be (expected) delivered on camera?

In a recent interview, Randi said “I’m a strong believer in innovation and entrepreneurship and hope that through this series other people will be inspired to build the next break out companies and technologies.”

According to VentureBeat, Bravo began searching for the show’s cast members several months ago by posting an ad on Craigslist. Casters even sent a letter to Digg founder Kevin Rose, who tweeted “yuck” in response. Likely not the epic romantic embrace they may have wanted from the entrepreneurship community – more like an elegant, epic fail.

Silicon Valley Reality TV Show Yuck Tweet by Kevin Rose

What You’ll Likely Get From Watching Bravo’s ‘Silicon Valley’

I’d have to agree with Mashable’s Pete Cashmore on Bravo’s attempt to make Silicon Valley sexy. “… it’s regrettable that some viewers will wildly misinterpret what entrepreneurship is all about. But after grabbing the attention of viewers with dramatic exothermic reactions — or scenes of wild parties — perhaps we’ll be able to teach them what it really takes to build a company.”

While I am passionately hopeful about initiatives that endeavor to make entrepreneurship more accessible – I’m certainly not expecting cerebral “aha” moments; it should — at best — be entertaining, amusing and hopefully it won’t make me dumber after watching it.


 

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Photo Credit: Tom Ford

 

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