If You Liked Startup, Watch These 8 Crime Dramas

Money laundering, dark web conspiracies, morally compromised protagonists — if Startup was your kind of show, these eight crime dramas will scratch the same itch.

Startup was a rare beast — a crime thriller that wove together cryptocurrency, cartel money laundering, FBI investigations, and the moral decay of three entrepreneurs trying to hold onto their creation. It was tense, smart, and unafraid to let its characters make terrible choices.

If you miss Startup, here are eight crime dramas that share its DNA.

1. Ozark (Netflix, 2017–2022) — The closest match to Startup's tone and stakes. A financial adviser relocates his family to the Missouri Ozarks after a money-laundering scheme goes wrong. Like Startup, it's about ordinary people caught in a criminal world they can't control. The Byrde family's moral descent mirrors Nick, Ronald, and Izzy's journey in eerie ways. Four seasons. Complete.
2. Breaking Bad (AMC, 2008–2013) — The gold standard of moral descent in television. A high school chemistry teacher turned meth manufacturer. Like Startup, Breaking Bad is about how good people become criminals one small decision at a time. Walter White's transformation from meek teacher to drug kingpin is the template that Startup's character arcs are built on. Five seasons. Complete.
3. Mr. Robot (USA Network, 2015–2019) — The show Startup's creators were almost certainly watching. A cybersecurity engineer and vigilante hacker recruits a young programmer into his anarchist hacker group — but nothing is what it seems. Like Startup, it blends crime, technology, and psychological depth. It also has one of the most technically accurate depictions of hacking and cryptocurrency on television. Four seasons. Complete.
4. Snowfall (FX, 2017–2023) — A crime epic about the rise of the crack cocaine epidemic in 1980s Los Angeles. Like Startup, it follows multiple characters whose lives intersect around a criminal enterprise. The tech angle is different (cocaine instead of cryptocurrency), but the moral complexity, the FBI pressure, and the sense of characters being in over their heads will feel very familiar. Six seasons. Complete.
5. Mindhunter (Netflix, 2017–2019) — A different kind of crime drama — focused on the birth of criminal profiling at the FBI — but sharing Startup's interest in the psychology of criminals. Like Startup, it's methodical, tense, and unwilling to give easy answers. Sadly also cancelled too soon, ending on a cliffhanger involving the BTK killer. Two seasons. Incomplete.
6. Billions (Showtime, 2016–2023) — A financial crime drama about a hedge fund kingpin and the U.S. Attorney determined to take him down. The cat-and-mouse game between Chuck Rhoades and Bobby Axelrod has the same intensity as the dynamic between Nick and Phil Rask in Startup. Less violent, but equally tense. Seven seasons. Complete.
7. ZeroZeroZero (Amazon Prime Video, 2019–2020) — A sprawling international crime drama about a shipment of cocaine from South America to Europe. Like Startup, it follows multiple perspectives — the cartel, the intermediaries, the buyers — and shows how criminal enterprises operate on a global scale. One season. Incomplete (but works as a standalone story).
8. Scorpion (CBS, 2014–2018) — A lighter take on the tech-crime genre, but with the same team-of-brilliant-outsiders energy as Startup's trio. A group of genius misfits solve high-stakes problems for Homeland Security. Less morally grey than Startup, but the camaraderie and problem-solving DNA is there. Four seasons. Incomplete.

One of the defining features of these shows — and of Startup itself — is their willingness to explore moral grey zones. Unlike traditional crime dramas where the line between good and evil is clearly drawn, both Startup and these recommendations operate in a space where the protagonist and antagonist are often the same person. The audience is asked to root for characters who make genuinely terrible decisions, not because the show excuses their behaviour, but because it understands how good people end up in impossible situations.

This moral complexity is increasingly rare in streaming television, where algorithms tend to favour clear genre categories and predictable story beats. The crime dramas that survive — and the ones worth watching — are the ones that refuse to let the audience feel comfortable with their own sympathies. According to Deadline, Startup was one of Crackle's highest-performing originals, but the platform's sale to Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment in 2019 effectively ended any possibility of a fourth season — a reminder that even successful shows can be collateral damage in the volatile streaming economy.

The shows recommended here also share Startup's interest in the intersection of technology and crime. Whether it's Mr. Robot's deep dive into hacker culture, Ozark's financial crime mechanics, or ZeroZeroZero's global supply chain perspective, each series treats crime not as a simple moral failing but as a complex system with its own logic, rules, and consequences. For viewers who appreciated how Startup made cryptocurrency and money laundering feel tangible and terrifying, these shows offer the same satisfying blend of education and dread — proof that the best crime dramas teach you something about how the world actually works, even as they keep you on the edge of your seat.

Why Startup Was Special

Startup stood out because it was willing to let its characters fail — not in a redemption arc way, but in a permanent, consequences-have-actions way. The ending — with Nick, Ronald, and Izzy standing over Stroud's body — is one of the darkest in modern television. There's no easy way out. There never was. As TVLine noted in their coverage of the series, the show's refusal to offer its characters redemption was precisely what made it stand out from the crowded crime drama landscape.

If you loved that ending (or hated it because you wanted more), explore our fan-written ending for Startup — we picked up where Crackle left off.

Every cancelled show deserves a proper ending. Explore our library of fan-written conclusions for more shows that left too soon.