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The End of My VC Career

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Re: The End of My VC Career

#21

Post by tptacek »

leggomylibro wrote: post #18

This is a complex topic, but it seems like there are a couple of questions about the character of people who work in executive roles which should fundamentally matter in due diligence discussions. Do they implicitly respect the agency of others? Do they see people as individuals with their own goals and the fundamental right to decide what those goals are? These people make a lot of decisions on behalf of others, and…

I thought "private mistake" was an extremely weird argument, too. It can't possibly be right; any of us can think of "private" crimes that would preclude someone's continued involvement with a VC firm. So, really, the implied argument he's making is that sexual assault is some kind of lesser crime.

Re: The End of My VC Career

#23

Post by eropple »

Retric wrote: post #15
eropple wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unequivocally no , he's not arguing for vigilantism. Words mean things and "social opprobrium" does not equate to "vigilantism." There is a distinction and a difference and it borders on mendacious (when not outrightly malicious) to conflate them.

What in your mind separates a linch mob forming when someone gets out of prison an this? As far as I can tell it's identical behavior and they both fall under vigilantism.

One of those things involves a crime and the other involves people exercising their free right of association to not associate with that dude (and, transitively, to not associate with people who think it's a good idea to continue associating with that dude).

The comparison you're making isn't apples and oranges, it's apples and lawnmowers. And it is why I left an out for malice: because that disingenuous comparison is used by real bad folks for real bad things.

Re: The End of My VC Career

#24

Post by ScottBurson »

tptacek wrote: post #21
leggomylibro wrote: post #18

This is a complex topic, but it seems like there are a couple of questions about the character of people who work in executive roles which should fundamentally matter in due diligence discussions. Do they implicitly respect the agency of others? Do they see people as individuals with their own goals and the fundamental right to decide what those goals are? These people make a lot of decisions on behalf of others, and…

I thought "private mistake" was an extremely weird argument, too. It can't possibly be right; any of us can think of "private" crimes that would preclude someone's continued involvement with a VC firm. So, really, the implied argument he's making is that sexual assault is some kind of lesser crime.

I read it as drawing a distinction between sexual assault committed against someone with whom the firm has an actual or potential business relationship (e.g. hitting on a founder when she pitches you) vs. one committed against someone with no such connection. Certainly the law would not distinguish these two — I didn't read him as suggesting that — but one's business associates might.

Re: The End of My VC Career

#25

Post by Retric »

eropple wrote: post #23
Retric wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What in your mind separates a linch mob forming when someone gets out of prison an this? As far as I can tell it's identical behavior and they both fall under vigilantism.

One of those things involves a crime and the other involves people exercising their free right of association to not associate with that dude (and, transitively, to not associate with people who think it's a good idea to continue associating with that dude). The comparison you're making isn't apples and oranges, it's apples and lawnmowers . And it is why I left an out for malice: because that disingenuous comparison…

Ahh, ok to be clear what they are doing is not legal. Mob 'justice' is however rarely prosecuted to it might seem legal.

Re: The End of My VC Career

#26

Post by brighteyes »

> I suggest that by remaining in his position he took very few consequences, and that in almost any other walk of life a person with less privilege would automatically lose their job after being convicted of sexual assault.

Is this actually true? If, as a random example, a waiter in a restaurant were convicted of sexual assault on the subway (as in the story here), how would the owner of the restaurant even know about it to fire him?

I think things work exactly the opposite of how the author of this piece does. The person under question here had his career end because he was famous in his field. But 99% of people are not famous. Rather than "privilege" shielding him, being rich and famous was his downfall.

Re: The End of My VC Career

#27

Post by cpach »

tptacek wrote: post #20

There's not much of interest in this story. Glaenzer was caught, by police witnesses, sexually assaulting a woman in a London train. He was convicted. He retained his role at the VC firm he cofounded for several years, but discovered that institutional investors --- the people who fund VC funds --- were unwilling to allocate capital to a firm that included Glaenzer. He left the firm. The job of a VC partner is about…

Indeed. Seems like a pretty clear-cut case to me.

Re: The End of My VC Career

#28

Post by [deleted] »

Retric wrote: post #25
eropple wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of those things involves a crime and the other involves people exercising their free right of association to not associate with that dude (and, transitively, to not associate with people who think it's a good idea to continue associating with that dude). The comparison you're making isn't apples and oranges, it's apples and lawnmowers . And it is why I left an out for malice: because that disingenuous comparison…

Ahh, ok to be clear what they are doing is not legal. Mob 'justice' is however rarely prosecuted to it might seem legal.

[deleted]

Re: The End of My VC Career

#29

Post by eropple »

Retric wrote: post #25
eropple wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of those things involves a crime and the other involves people exercising their free right of association to not associate with that dude (and, transitively, to not associate with people who think it's a good idea to continue associating with that dude). The comparison you're making isn't apples and oranges, it's apples and lawnmowers . And it is why I left an out for malice: because that disingenuous comparison…

Ahh, ok to be clear what they are doing is not legal. Mob 'justice' is however rarely prosecuted to it might seem legal.

Please cite your sources with regards to the assertion that it is "illegal" to not associate with somebody who you think does bad shit. I have a First Amendment in my back pocket--one that, if I'm being frank, I understand--that disagrees with you.

Re: The End of My VC Career

#30

Post by Retric »

eropple wrote: post #29
Retric wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ahh, ok to be clear what they are doing is not legal. Mob 'justice' is however rarely prosecuted to it might seem legal.

Please cite your sources with regards to the assertion that it is "illegal" to not associate with somebody who you think does bad shit. I have a First Amendment in my back pocket--one that, if I'm being frank, I understand --that disagrees with you.

The OP said "career pressure" that's more than just avoidance.

There are a host of minefields, Harassment has a very low threshold. Any unwanted communication falls under that heading.

The work environment is another huge issue, California has a wide range of complex laws relating to this stuff. To simplify unless their crime specifically relates to what you do it's risky to use it in decision making.

Libel and Defamation are another very tricky area.

And on and on. We are talking about many huge landmines, though again prosecutions are very rare.

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