# StartUp (2016)

> A desperate banker, a Haitian-American gang lord and a Cuban-American hacker in Miami build a digital currency scheme that becomes organized crime 2.0.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/58485

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 30
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama
- Created by: Ben Ketai
- Network: Crackle
- Cast: Adam Brody, Edi Gathegi, Otmara Marrero, Ashley Hinshaw, Addison Timlin, Ron Perlman, Martin Freeman, Solange Vázquez
- TMDB rating: 7.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5028002/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: tense, gritty, morally compromised, propulsive

## What critics say

Audiences rate StartUp positively, with its crime-and-tech premise and Miami setting praised while its characters draw complaints of blandness.

## Synopsis

StartUp (2016-2018) is an American crime drama series created by Ben Ketai for Crackle. Set in present-day Miami, it follows Nicholas "Nick" Talman (Adam Brody), a desperate banker who needs to conceal stolen money, as he is forced into an uneasy partnership with Ronald "Ronnie" Dacey (Edi Gathegi), a Haitian-American gang lord hoping to go legit, and Isabelle "Izzy" Morales (Otmara Marrero), a Cuban-American hacker whose idea could reshape the future of money itself. Martin Freeman and Ron Perlman appear in supporting roles as rival and associate figures in the criminal world. The engine of the series is the tension between laundering dirty cash and building a legitimate digital currency, with each episode pushing the three leads deeper into schemes that threaten to spiral out of their control. Across three seasons of ten episodes each, the show plays as one continuing serialized story, moving from clandestine money handling to a larger criminal enterprise. Its tone is tense and gritty, with a glossy Miami backdrop giving way to dark, morally compromised dealings. Fans of Ozark, Narcos and The Wire will find resonance in its crime business plotting and its portrait of ambition inside criminal networks.

## Shows like StartUp

- [Black Rabbit (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/164439)
- [A Man in Full (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/143820)
- [Get Shorty (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/62772)
- [Crooks (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/162433)
- [To Kill a Monkey (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/200237)
- [Magic City (2012)](https://ember.film/tv/35815)
- [Thief (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/3739)
- [Snowfall (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/62575)
- [Parish (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/121159)
- [Snabba Cash (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/99355)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt