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Silicon Valley Women, in Cultural Shift, Frankly Describe Sexual Harassment

nytimes.com

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Re: Silicon Valley Women, in Cultural Shift, Frankly Describe Sexual Harassment

#151

Post by xor1 »

rokhayakebe wrote: post #127
Mz wrote: post #41

Saying anything, the women were warned, might lead to ostracism. The problem is that women are already being ostracized. When you can't get hired or you can't get VC money or you can't get business connections because the only time men will talk to you is to hit on you, you are already basically dead in the water as a business person. How do we get out of this dead end?

How do we get out of this dead end? Have women as your first few customers. Sell to Women initially. Only pitch to women VCs etc... When you get beyond a certain point hire men to deal with men you don't want to deal with.

So how do you feel about women who don't follow along with your plan because it benefits them to deviate from it? Do you see them as traitors?

Re: Silicon Valley Women, in Cultural Shift, Frankly Describe Sexual Harassment

#152

Post by nickpsecurity »

rokhayakebe wrote: post #127
Mz wrote: post #41

Saying anything, the women were warned, might lead to ostracism. The problem is that women are already being ostracized. When you can't get hired or you can't get VC money or you can't get business connections because the only time men will talk to you is to hit on you, you are already basically dead in the water as a business person. How do we get out of this dead end?

How do we get out of this dead end? Have women as your first few customers. Sell to Women initially. Only pitch to women VCs etc... When you get beyond a certain point hire men to deal with men you don't want to deal with.

You're basically describing affirmative action or quotas. They worked successfully in the Nordic countries to improve the gender ratios over there. The Navy did it with great success. Many companies do it including First Horizon that's near me which tries to stay half and half.

This can work but essentially you have to either make it law or convince the VC's to do it willingly. Those are big political problems that would take a lot of targeted work done right. If it can be done at all.

Re: Silicon Valley Women, in Cultural Shift, Frankly Describe Sexual Harassment

#154

Post by mhluongo »

nickpsecurity wrote: post #139
azylman wrote: post #53

I really hope that stories like this will let us stop blaming specific companies like Uber and accept that this is a problem with our industry. We're never going to be able to fix this as long as we keep sticking our heads in the sand and pretending it's not a systemic issue.

As with all corporate evils, it will require leadership from the top down establishing clear standards of behavior with strong enforcement. Simultaneously, external pressure via media, lawsuits, and missing key talent can be applied on companies not doing it or reinforcing those half-assing it.

Not sure I agree- because investors aren't in the same category as employers, it's harder for a founder to get any sort of justice for discrimination or harassment. AFAIK, the bar for a lawsuit is much higher.

Also, most of these firms aren't huge organizations- they're small management teams with a couple partners and associates / analysts. From what I can tell on Crunchbase, Binary Capital was just Justin Caldbeck and Jonathan Theo before it imploded.

Re: Silicon Valley Women, in Cultural Shift, Frankly Describe Sexual Harassment

#155

Post by nickpsecurity »

rryan wrote: post #17
coloneltcb wrote: post #2

Buried lede: Dave McClure implicated and is out of daily operations at 500 Startups

/That's/ the lede you're taking away from this story? Some asshole's fall from grace?

Personally, I prioritize "A problem got solved" over "people are talking about problems." One thing I like about this article, the Uber situation, and so on is they're getting some results. The massive problem still remains and is the lede but that's another good one.

Re: Silicon Valley Women, in Cultural Shift, Frankly Describe Sexual Harassment

#156

Post by deegles »

auganov wrote: post #106

"Apologies" like Chris Sacca's [0] don't make you too hopeful. Often I have committed as their first limited partner and encouraged them to use my name and participation to attract other investment. I’ve introduced them to my fund’s most loyal investors and made sure they have had the opportunity to make their case rather than get lost in an inbox. I’ve also connected them to our trusted service providers saving them…

What would be enough to you?

Re: Silicon Valley Women, in Cultural Shift, Frankly Describe Sexual Harassment

#157

Post by angstrom »

ronilan wrote: post #95
dkarl wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think cringe is the wrong word. We cringe when we watch The Office and see people make social mistakes without meaning to. These are not unwitting social mistakes. This is people being assholes because they know they can get away with it. Furthermore, not having met any of these people but speculating based on my experience, I would guess that their motivations go beyond just looking for sex and knowing that one ti…

> This is people being assholes because they know they can get away with it. Nope. These people are being assholes because they ARE assholes. Never attribute to rational decision making what can be attributed to rotten character.

High functioning sociopaths. A person can be an asshole and not know it. A sociopath knows they're not acting within acceptable social norms and hides it. These investors are sociopaths. An asshole will make a comment and not deny it. A sociopath will try to twist it into a seemingly logical action ie "I was just trying to get rid of her because I didn't like her idea." By that logic who knows how many Jehovah's witnesses this person groped and/or fucked.

Re: Silicon Valley Women, in Cultural Shift, Frankly Describe Sexual Harassment

#158

Post by mhluongo »

maxxxxx wrote: post #131
taytus wrote: post #91

Wow, think for a second how hard is to be an entrepreneur. All the shit we have to deal with at so many different levels. These women goes beyond that, literally putting everything on the line. Much respect.

This has nothing to do with being an entrepreneur. The same behavior happens on all levels.

Entrepreneurs aren't protected the same way employees are, FWIW

Re: Silicon Valley Women, in Cultural Shift, Frankly Describe Sexual Harassment

#160

Post by microcolonel »

rokhayakebe wrote: post #115

HN Women. I am a male and I am genuinely curious. Is the following SH or does the position of power the person holds make it SH or does the environment (workplace) make it SH. "“I was getting confused figuring out whether to hire you or hit on you.”"

I'm not a woman, but I feel the line is a bit blurry depending on the scenario. If it's genuinely unclear what this person is coming to you for, then I think this is a reasonable message to send. If you're already half way through hiring somebody, then it's clearly inappropriate.

Not propositioning people you're attracted to is a sure way to be alone in life; I tend to think it's fine as long as it doesn't interfere with your professional obligations.

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