Dave McClure, founder of 500 Startups, wrote about startups, investing, and food tech, later including a personal apology post.
HN links it mostly for his 'I'm a creep. I'm sorry' post about harassment, and one commenter praises his 'late bloomer' post.
I was wondering how true this was. It's here:
>With respect to the NYT article above and Sarah Kunst specifically, I’d like to sincerely apologize for making inappropriate advances towards her several years ago over drinks, late one night in a small group, where she mentioned she was interested in a job at 500. While I did not offer her a job at the time, a few days/weeks later I did refer her to my co-founder Christine Tsai to begin a formal interview process with 500, where Christine and others on the team met with her. Ultimately, 500 decided not to offer Sarah a job. Again my apologies to Sarah for my inappropriate behavior in a setting I thought was social, but in hindsight was clearly not. It was my fault and I take full responsibility. She was correct in calling me out.
https://500hats.com/im-a-creep-i-m-sorry-d2c13e996ea0
The NYT article (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/30/technology/women-entrepreneurs-speak-out-sexual-harassment.html) did not go into these specifics.
Below is all it discusses about her:
>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.”
>Ms. Kunst, who now runs a fitness start-up, said she declined Mr. McClure’s advance. When she later discussed the message…
Hi. Sorry you're hurting.
A professional specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy might be especially helpful to you, in just a few sessions. You need to break the pattern of thought that leads you to fixate on your regrets, shortcomings and other negativity. With all of this taking up space in your mind, you'll have a hard time finding the attention or energy for the many exciting options open to you.
Put another way – with your hand full of the whip you're using to beat the hell out of yourself, it isn't free to work on real things.
Meanwhile, tonight, right now, take a moment and write yourself a letter. Write from the perspective of the kindest, dearest, most understanding friend you can imagine.
As this friend, express understanding and compassion for the hardships and missed opportunities you've endured. Offer encouragement. Catalog all the disappointments of your history if that's what you feel like doing – but do so in a way that says "Hey dude. That hurts. I totally understand why you're feeling bad. It's cool."
In short – give yourself a break. And repeat the exercise any time you're having a rough night like this one.
There's no time machine. There's nothing you can do to go back and change things. All you have is right now. Today. This moment. In any given moment, you get to decide your stance and attitude. You can't reverse your past, but you have full control over how you dispose of every single second between now, as you're reading this, and when you…
To everyone down voting me: Please don't turn hacker news into reddit. Extraordinary claims require substantial amount of evidence to have any weight.
If sexism was rampant and common through out the entire software development industry, more so than other industries, I think we would see a lot of evidence supporting that. Look at the evidence, and form your conclusions based on that. The reason why I discounted Uber is because Uber is just one company and is no where near representative of the industry as a whole.
Silicon Valley is _also_ not representative of the whole industry.
The evidence that people did provide:
https://500hats.com/im-a-creep-i-m-sorry-d2c13e996ea0
https://cherylyeoh.com/2017/07/03/shedding-light-on-the-black-box-of-inappropriateness/
That's one messed up guy. His post places much emphasis on the fact that this shortcoming is his own and that the rest of the company does not have the same weird ideals and that his co-founder + senior management are sound. One guy is not representative of the whole industry.
https://www.theverge.com/2016/3/18/11262888/microsoft-gdc-2016-party
This article is grasping on straws. I fail to see what a gaming conference has to do with the software development industry. Also, this presumes that the adult entertainment industry is sexist/misogynistic, which is a conflicted position to say the least.
https://qz.com/659196/i-had-so-many-advantages-and-i-barely-made-it-pinterests-tracy-chou-on-sexism-in-tech/
I think…
Suits are one of the many well-known ways to get (certain) people to like you and respect you. If you've ever failed to reach your goals due to other people's suboptimal reception of your presentation, consider this:
"Your business suit will probably cost about as much as a computer monitor. You only need it once in a blue moon, but when you need it you’ll be really, really, really glad that you have it. Take my word for it, if I wear everyday casual when I visit e.g. City Hall I get treated like a hapless awkward twenty-something, if I wear the suit I get treated like the CEO of a multinational company. I’m actually the awkward twenty-something CEO of a multinational company, but I get to pick which side to emphasize when I want favorable treatment from a bureaucrat." [1]
Now, obligatory suit-and-tie-wearing can certainly be seen as a form of workplace oppression, but the motivation to positively impress business associates is perfectly valid. On the flip side, dressing down and cursing like a sailor can also be a form of calculated personal branding that conveys the desired impression (confident, powerful outsider) to certain prospective clients in certain situations. [2]
[1] http://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/10/28/
[2] http://500hats.com
I'm 37, so I know that feeling well. There's a sense that others are moving on with their lives, both professionally and personally (eg getting married, having kids) but you are stuck and not going anywhere. Honestly, I'm not through this and still feel much of this, but through therepy I've realized that this keeping up with others isn't a helpful thing. Plenty of people are late bloomers (here's an example, obviously less inspiring now than it used to be). https://500hats.com/late-bloomer-not-a-loser-i-hope-ac0ec49a6ddc For me personally I've realized this period is one of intense personal growth and it's brought up lots of issues from my past patterns that I hadn't dealt with but needed to. I'm confident that now I'm better placed for success both at work and at home, though I still need time to heal and rebuild myself inside before that happens and that's a process that just takes time.
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 fit the profile but were eminently backable and that included women. He blogged publicly about his insecurities and campaigned for diversity.
https://500hats.com/commitment-to-diversity-d8a4ac8b1c12
Guess it proves you can't really know a person through their writings and interviews. He was someone that I admired and I'm more than a little disappointed.