Ellen Pao Suit Against Kleiner Perkins Heads to Trial
1–10 of 67 posts
Re: Ellen Pao Suit Against Kleiner Perkins Heads to Trial
#2I hope she wins, but this issue is a lot bigger than this one case, and what we also need is a new law that holds investors responsible for the conduct of the people they fund. Right now, they can fund frat boys and while the frat boys get sued for sexual harassment or domestic abuse, the investors are scot-free. Indeed, the appeal of Silicon Valley and VC is the disposable company. (As in... don't like what has attached itself to your creation? Shoot it in the head.) But this allows founder quality levels to reach an all-time low, and it's time to reverse course by holding investors responsible for the character of the people they fund.
Re: Ellen Pao Suit Against Kleiner Perkins Heads to Trial
#3> An anonymous Reddit employee sent a letter to Kleiner’s legal team, asking them to subpoena Reddit employees “for information regarding conflicts with Ellen Pao.”
Wow. I had heard about the case, but didn't know the drama had sprawled over to reddit. All things put aside, including my own biases, if I was reddit's board, I'd get rid of her immediately. It doesn't matter whether if her claims are justified, or even if she's 100% in the right (and Kliener was in the wrong) - she's obviously a toxic presence and brought some of that toxicity with her over to reddit.
Re: Ellen Pao Suit Against Kleiner Perkins Heads to Trial
#4I hope she wins, but this issue is a lot bigger than this one case, and what we also need is a new law that holds investors responsible for the conduct of the people they fund. Right now, they can fund frat boys and while the frat boys get sued for sexual harassment or domestic abuse, the investors are scot-free. Indeed, the appeal of Silicon Valley and VC is the disposable company. (As in... don't like what has atta…
Did something happen to you? This seems like an absurdly high bar.
Re: Ellen Pao Suit Against Kleiner Perkins Heads to Trial
#5> An anonymous Reddit employee sent a letter to Kleiner’s legal team, asking them to subpoena Reddit employees “for information regarding conflicts with Ellen Pao.” Wow. I had heard about the case, but didn't know the drama had sprawled over to reddit. All things put aside, including my own biases, if I was reddit's board, I'd get rid of her immediately. It doesn't matter whether if her claims are justified, or even…
Good heavens. You've just levied a harsh accusation against Pao: you called her a toxic presence, and called for her immediate termination.
Your only evidence is one letter sent by anonymous employee (assuming the NYT has accurately described the person in question and they were in fact at Reddit).
It's very possible the employee just had a grudge against Pao and was trying to complicate things (No CEO will ever avoid having enemies). Or they weren't a Reddit employee at all. We know almost nothing. You're calling for a woman's career to end, and for Reddit to upend their management, based on a single anecdote.
We know nothing of Pao's actual performance at Reddit. Presumably the board made her interim CEO for a reason. Claims such as yours demand much stronger evidence.
Re: Ellen Pao Suit Against Kleiner Perkins Heads to Trial
#6> An anonymous Reddit employee sent a letter to Kleiner’s legal team, asking them to subpoena Reddit employees “for information regarding conflicts with Ellen Pao.” Wow. I had heard about the case, but didn't know the drama had sprawled over to reddit. All things put aside, including my own biases, if I was reddit's board, I'd get rid of her immediately. It doesn't matter whether if her claims are justified, or even…
Such strong language, and such vitriol.
If you really believe this, you need to recognize that sometimes the best people are fleeing a bad situation -- a situation that they were a victim of.
I don't really know the details of what happened at KP, but I am not surprised that discrimination (deliberate or otherwise) exists in venture capital. Did it happen to her? I don't know. Will the real truth ever come out? Probably not. Are there multiple versions of the real truth? Probably.
But you are calling for her termination. For something unrelated to her current job. Her resume and academic achievements place her in the exceptionally accomplished category, so to casually describe her as toxic, without first-hand experiences, seems antagonistic and trollish, at best.
She can't control what an anonymous Reddit employee might or might not do. That's no reason to fire her.
Re: Ellen Pao Suit Against Kleiner Perkins Heads to Trial
#7VC firms are to technology businesses as Berkshire Hathaway is to journalism as owner of the The Buffalo News.
This is if anything an indictment of venture capital firms.
Re: Ellen Pao Suit Against Kleiner Perkins Heads to Trial
#8I hope she wins, but this issue is a lot bigger than this one case, and what we also need is a new law that holds investors responsible for the conduct of the people they fund. Right now, they can fund frat boys and while the frat boys get sued for sexual harassment or domestic abuse, the investors are scot-free. Indeed, the appeal of Silicon Valley and VC is the disposable company. (As in... don't like what has atta…
There's no way to write a law like this that isn't open to horrific abuse. If investors are going to be held responsible for their management's criminal activities, the law isn't just going to be used in Silicon Valley. I don't want to be held liable the next time I buy a few hundred shares of a company whose managers fuck up and (defraud mortgage borrowers|turn NJ into a superfund site|whatever).
I'm generally very supportive of your observations about the feudal nature of Silicon Valley -- but this isn't one of your finest moments.
Re: Ellen Pao Suit Against Kleiner Perkins Heads to Trial
#9I founded a KP backed company during those years. I'm not longer involved, so I don't have a stake in this. Likewise, I don't have any specific knowledge of the events.
At the partners' meeting and other interactions, Pao seemed uninterested and out of place. Their culture seemed to be intense, friendly, joking debate. I don't think it's a gender thing, as I remember Meeker and Lee being incredibly helpful.
This whole thing made more sense to me when I read http://nypost.com/2012/06/11/of-love-and-lottsa-lawsuits/ and http://nypost.com/2015/02/18/case-builds-against-former-ny-h....
(To be fair, the alternate hypothesis is that they had already hurt her so badly that she checked out b/c of their actions or that I just saw some off days.)
Re: Ellen Pao Suit Against Kleiner Perkins Heads to Trial
#10I hope she wins, but this issue is a lot bigger than this one case, and what we also need is a new law that holds investors responsible for the conduct of the people they fund. Right now, they can fund frat boys and while the frat boys get sued for sexual harassment or domestic abuse, the investors are scot-free. Indeed, the appeal of Silicon Valley and VC is the disposable company. (As in... don't like what has atta…
Did something happen to you? This seems like an absurdly high bar.
What do you mean "Did something happen to you?" The comment by moc is a pretty standard moc comment.
(Just curious to know what you meant)