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McClure steps back at 500Startups after internal sexual misconduct investigation

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Re: McClure steps back at 500Startups after internal sexual misconduct investigation

#81

Post by ithinkinstereo »

mc32 wrote: post #64
neom wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She was being interviewed for a job, not an investment.

My bad, then yeah. I know we are way past civics and other classes in school which tried to steer kids into a more "moral" frame of mind, but I think the advent of fraternity culture permeating into daily life beyond secondary education and educational institutions in the educated indicates that something's amiss in our culture. Music, movies, games, etc., take a pretty jocular view of appropriate behavior --it's not…

I think this is a cop-out excuse. Even the frattiest of frat boys have moms, sisters, and girlfriends/wives.

This isn't that complicated, it's simply "treat others how you wish to be treated."

Before you proposition job applicants over Facebook DM just ask yourself: would I be okay with this if someone treated my mom/sister/girlfriend in this manner?

Re: McClure steps back at 500Startups after internal sexual misconduct investigation

#82

Post by kevmo »

baristaGeek wrote: post #61

How can a newly born organization build an organizational culture that avoids sexual misconduct as much as possible?

Proactively: Be overt about your policies and values. Even though everyone will shift uncomfortably and roll their eyes, have occasional training sessions. Make a discussion of "what is not ok to say" part of your onboarding process. Have 1 on 1s. Collect anonymized feedback.

Reactively: When offensive behavior occurs, it has to be nipped in the bud ASAP. A quick chat with a junior employee (and maybe perhaps handing over a pamphlet on sexual harassment) may be all it takes. Egregious and/or repeat offenders should be fired.

Re: McClure steps back at 500Startups after internal sexual misconduct investigation

#83

Post by mc32 »

ithinkinstereo wrote: post #81
mc32 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My bad, then yeah. I know we are way past civics and other classes in school which tried to steer kids into a more "moral" frame of mind, but I think the advent of fraternity culture permeating into daily life beyond secondary education and educational institutions in the educated indicates that something's amiss in our culture. Music, movies, games, etc., take a pretty jocular view of appropriate behavior --it's not…

I think this is a cop-out excuse. Even the frattiest of frat boys have moms, sisters, and girlfriends/wives. This isn't that complicated, it's simply "treat others how you wish to be treated." Before you proposition job applicants over Facebook DM just ask yourself: would I be okay with this if someone treated my mom/sister/girlfriend in this manner?

I'm not excusing the behavior in any way.

I'm not sure having sisters/wives/moms/brothers/fathers has much effect on people who are reared and imbued in a culture where entertainment (liberally defined) celebrates fraternity culture.

You just have to examine the "shaving cream on mouth and dicks painted on friends faces" attitude to know people do things to others that they _do not_ particularly want done to themselves.

To use a car analogy these are the kinds of people who would be happy to cut someone off while driving but would get enraged if someone did that to them. Of course, it's simple, drive defensively and don't do stupid things when driving --do people follow?

Re: McClure steps back at 500Startups after internal sexual misconduct investigation

#84

Post by sillysaurus3 »

yorwba wrote: post #54
downandout wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what McClure actually did, but in the current hypersensitive, politically correct environment, simply asking a woman out that you happen to meet while both of you are involved with a startup seems to be considered "harassment" worthy of destroying careers and businesses. Some of the stories that have surfaced recently clearly step over the line, but many others are vague and lack any clear intent on the…

The problem is that men who happen to be attracted to women that they work with/around sometimes end up using positions of power to intimidate women into doing things they don't want to do, simply by deciding to politely ask them out. Yes, intent matters, and we should take it into account when morally judging someone; but if you are in the position to severely damage someone's career, you have to realize that any si…

Good points. While less common, it's probably important to highlight that this applies to all gender combinations and orientations. If you're in a position of power over someone, it's not ok to express or act on interest.

Re: McClure steps back at 500Startups after internal sexual misconduct investigation

#85

Post by devinmontgomery »

Hydraulix989 wrote: post #76
devinmontgomery wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That message was absolutely inappropriate. Women should be able to raise money without being hit on by investors. My comment was in response to the idea that Dave was secretly different than his outward appearance. I don't know him, I don't know the situation. But I think otherwise good people can do things they should apologize for and stop.

^ Classic Halo effect from psychology.

A person who does this being "otherwise good" doesn't lessen the harm to women looking for jobs or investment. But it does go to the person's intent and overall desert of punishment.

Re: McClure steps back at 500Startups after internal sexual misconduct investigation

#86

Post by downandout »

AJ007 wrote: post #71
devinmontgomery wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was still a risky move. The key (literally, one of the elements of sexual harassment) is whether the advance is welcome. I'm guessing that Bill used a lower-risk way of finding that out than sending a text message after a job interview.

You are right, the line is whether the other party welcomed the advance. A lot of very smart people are not socially mature enough to even guess what will happen. Something worked once so they repeat it, over and over again. Companies should prohibit all internal fraternizing and fire anyone who is caught breaking the rules. VCs and anyone involved in hiring should have even stricter guidelines. If you are an investo…

>Companies should prohibit all internal fraternizing and fire anyone who is caught breaking the rules.

If you did that, you would have a difficult time hiring people. There are reasons that most large tech companies don't place an outright ban on it. People don't like being told what to do, and people that spend lots of time working with one another sometimes fall for each other. Tech employees aren't (yet) robots.

Re: McClure steps back at 500Startups after internal sexual misconduct investigation

#87

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

ithinkinstereo wrote: post #77
prostoalex wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were also among the first venture firms to run a syndicate focused on women founders https://500.co/500-women/

This is the "I can't be racist because my best friend is black" defense. It's hard for me to see where all the McClure defenders are coming from. Is it that hard to see his actions in this specific instance as being (wildly) inappropriate? This is basically textbook sexual harassment. Just distill it to the basic facts: 1) Job applicants comes to interview for a job 2) After the interview, McClure contacts her over F…

I interpreted the original comment and direct parent as not defending McClure, but being shocked and surprised that his private behavior was so contrary to his public persona.

Re: McClure steps back at 500Startups after internal sexual misconduct investigation

#89

Post by rayiner »

thanksgiving wrote: post #45
neom wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uhmmm..... "In 2014, Sarah Kunst, 31, an entrepreneur, said she discussed a potential job at 500 Startups, a start-up incubator in San Francisco. During the recruiting process, Mr. McClure, a founder of 500 Startups and an investor, sent her a Facebook message that read in part, “I was getting confused figuring out whether to hire you or hit on you.”"

Is this sexual harassment? It sounds like calling a party where the food is bad "literally Auschwitz". Reverse the genders. Is this still sexual harassment? If not, then this isn't sexual harassment either. I still think this is in poor taste. The attempts to defend it is worse. However, let us commit to refraining from calling it sexual harassment until it is sexual harassment. Calling this sexual harassment is like…

The comment is like in the dictionary next to "sexual harassment." Hell, you can tell how bad the statement is even without any other context. "I was getting confused figuring out whether to hire you or hit on you." The implication is that this woman might have lost out on a job opportunity because the man interviewing her found her attractive.

Re: McClure steps back at 500Startups after internal sexual misconduct investigation

#90

Post by anindha »

rmason wrote: post #2

The one person that I would have never suspected is Dave McClure. Here's a guy who didn't fit the investment world and he was smart and hustled his way in. He started 500 startups with a female co-founder and said he chose her because she was smarter. He saw an opening for himself and talked about playing Moneyball for venture capital. He spoke often in interviews about chasing investments among founders who didn't f…

I have seen questionable material come from him [1]:

Examples: "Money Shot" with kitten spreadings its legs and "Great Products...Get you LAID".

[1] https://www.slideshare.net/dmc500hats/how-to-pitch-a-vc-or-a...

edit: link directly to slides and deleted nested comment.

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