Television series

StartUp

Name: StartUp
Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller
Released: 2016
Cast: Otmara Marrero, Kristen Ariza, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Lovensky Jean-Baptiste, Vera Cherny

Crime
Drama
Relentless

StartUp is a propulsive crime thriller about three outsiders who build a cryptocurrency startup in Miami using mob money—and immediately regret it. It's tense, smart, and brutally aware that ambition and desperation make terrible business partners. If you liked the moral quicksand of Breaking Bad but wanted it faster and meaner, this is your show.

TVMaze rating

3.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like crime dramas where the business plot is a hustle with real teeth, and where moral compromise builds slowly, episode by episode, under Miami heat.

Skip it if you want the tech-world story to stay about code and pitch decks, since the hustle drifts into street-level danger and gang politics, and the tone can swing hard.

What it asks of you: Thirty episodes of roughly 54 minutes, a tension that tightens steadily and seldom eases, and attention that pays off when you stay with its shifting alliances.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Breaking Bad2008

The template for 'ordinary person makes one bad choice and spirals into crime.' Both shows understand that desperation is more dangerous than evil, and that the real tragedy is watching someone become someone they can't recognize.

But It's much longer—five seasons versus three—and the pacing is slower. If you want immediate tension and momentum, StartUp moves faster.

Ozark2017

Same DNA: regular people laundering money, family stakes that keep escalating, an FBI agent who becomes increasingly personal about his prey. Both understand that the real pressure comes from trying to be respectable while doing unforgivable things.

But Ozark is bleaker and more pessimistic. StartUp has more humor and more moments where you think people might actually escape. If you want unrelenting darkness, this is lighter.

The Sopranos1999

The godfather of shows about smart, ambitious people trapped in criminal structures. Both explore what happens when you're too intelligent for your circumstances but not intelligent enough to get out of them. Psychologically penetrating.

But It moves at a completely different pace—meditative, novelistic. StartUp is a sprint; Sopranos is a long conversation. Also, Sopranos predates it by seventeen years, so the production values are dated.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from StartUp

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Halt and Catch Fire2014

Both shows understand that a startup is fundamentally a war between the people in it. The product is almost irrelevant—what matters is whether these three people can survive each other.

A show about building a startup in the 1980s computer boom, with the same structure as StartUp—ambitious people with incompatible values forced together, escalating stakes, moral compromises for progress. But it's fundamentally about creation, not crime. You watch people invent something real.

But It's not a crime show. If you're watching StartUp for the danger and the FBI agent and the moral transgression, this will feel too optimistic. Also, it's slow. Beautifully slow, but slow.

The Godfather Part II1974

The definitive film about ambition eating morality, parallel storylines of a young man building power from nothing, and the machinery of crime as a kind of terrible business. StartUp is essentially this compressed into a TV show set in Miami.

But It's a masterpiece, which means it's patient and operatic. StartUp is scrappier and more urgent. If you want grand, this is small.

Bloodline2015

Another crime drama built on family dysfunction and secrets, with a similar sense of dread—the feeling that everyone is trapped in a scenario they can't control. Both understand that the worst enemy is often the one you live with.

But Bloodline gets increasingly convoluted and its final season is universally disliked. StartUp has a cleaner arc. If you want a show that sticks the landing, this is safer.

Narcos2015

Organized crime, Miami settings (at least for the first arc), real consequences for ambition, and a procedural tension that mirrors StartUp's forward momentum. Both treat crime as a business with spreadsheets, not just violence.

But Narcos is based on true events and has a documentary quality that StartUp doesn't. If you want pure fiction and invented stakes, StartUp is more fun.

The Wire2002

Like StartUp, it's fascinated by systems—how money moves, how power works, how individuals get crushed by institutions. Both are novels about cities and ambition. Enormously intelligent.

But The Wire is deliberately slow and sprawling. StartUp is sharp and propulsive. Also, The Wire is five seasons of 13-hour-long episodes each. StartUp is three tight seasons. If you don't have months, this isn't it.

Snowfall2017

Three seasons of young people building a drug business in 1980s LA. Excellent cast chemistry, real stakes escalation, and a similar sense of 'how did we get here?' It's what StartUp would look like if set in the crack epidemic era.

But It's period drama, so you're dealing with '80s aesthetics and constraints. StartUp is contemporary and faster. Also, the later seasons have been criticized for losing focus.

American Hustle2013

Both are about people who are good at playing roles—criminals, businesspeople, lawmen—and discovering that the role becomes the person. Both ask: at what point does the con become real?

A con man, a woman with a gift for reinvention, and an ambitious FBI agent in a cat-and-mouse game set in the '70s. It has StartUp's DNA—smart people doing dumb things for the right reasons, the seduction of the game, the blurred line between cop and criminal.

But It's a lot prettier and more stylish than StartUp, which means it's also less urgent. The mood is playful where StartUp is anxious. If you want style over tension, this is better. If you want to feel afraid for the characters, StartUp is better.

The Killing2011

Both shows understand that crime is a language—a way of communicating when ordinary channels are blocked. Both follow the logic of the crime rather than the morality of the criminal.

A Danish crime procedural that approaches crime as an investigation, not a morality play. What makes it vital: it's meticulous about cause and effect, patient with ambiguity, and treats both the victim and the criminal with equal psychological depth. StartUp's urgency meets this show's intelligence.

But It's Scandinavian noir, which means it's bleak in a different register—existential rather than urgent. Also, it's in Danish with subtitles. Some people find the pacing meditative to the point of slowness. Not a thriller in the American sense.