Silicon Valley Women Tell of VC’s Unwanted Advances | Hacker News Reader

Silicon Valley Women Tell of VC’s Unwanted Advances

theinformation.com

47 pointsphilip120918 comments

Summary: The Information says that 6 women have come forward to report unwanted sexual advances from Justin Caldbeck of Binary Capital. Three of the women have allowed themselves to be identified: Niniane Wang, CTO of Minted, and Susan Ho and Leiti Hsu, co-founders of Journy.

Binary Capital's response avoids the issue:

> Binary said that while The Information had “found a few examples which show that Justin has in the past occasionally dated or flirted with women he met in a professional capacity, let’s be clear: there is no evidence that Justin did anything illegal and there is no evidence that any of his investing decisions were affected by his social interests.”

I'm not associated with The Information (besides being a happy paid customer), but this link will give you full access to the article if you input your email:

http://go.theinformation.com/8b274ad670eebd07

Looks like a shame piece for this fellow Justin Caldbeck. Was he given a chance to respond and is that in the article?

Of course, there's no way he could be guilty of these allegations! Harumph!

Oh, he is guilty. This shit is nothing new for him either. Always been this way. Was one of those star jocks in high school who used to torment nerds and go out with the cheerleaders. Total bro. Fuck these guys. Time to turn Silicon Valley back to the nerds and geeks (of whatever persuasion, color, gender, etc.). These assholes need to go back to Wall Street so we can build in peace.

Haha not surprising, I was being sarcastic but interesting context. Sounds like not a nice guy. Did you go to high school with him?

From TFA: > In a statement, Mr. Caldbeck said, “I strongly deny The Information’s attacks on my character. The fact is, I have always enjoyed respectful relationships with female founders, business partners, and investors.”

So yes he was requested to respond and did.

actually it now says:

"UPDATE: Through a spokesman, Mr. Caldbeck issued an additional statement on Thursday afternoon: "Obviously, I am deeply disturbed by these allegations. While significant context is missing from the incidents reported by The Information, I deeply regret ever causing anyone to feel uncomfortable. The fact is that I have been privileged to have worked with female entrepreneurs throughout my career and I sincerely apologize to anyone who I made uncomfortable by my actions. There’s no denying this is an issue in the venture community, and I hate that my behavior has contributed to it."

Nah...I've interacted with this douchebag. This is totally in character for him. Surprised it took so long for this to bubble up. He was identified on Secret a few years ago for this type of behavior. Finally caught up to him.

https://startupsanonymous.com/question/thoughts-post-listing...

Can someone who has access beyond the paywall explain this story and report a bit more?

What are the examples used in the report?

If someone hits on you and you are not interested, does that qualify as an unwanted advance? Is it unwanted flirting? Is it a direct proposition? Is it an implication that physical activity would lead to a beneficial business relationship? Is it inappropriate topics? Or is an unwanted advance even more than that?

I also wonder, are there any men who report unwanted advances from women in similar environments? Is this a widespread problem in general?

Non paywall link?

> No subscription? You’re missing out.

Ha. I'm not exactly in the know but this is the first I've ever heard of theinformation.com.

The Information has dropped some really solid original reporting on tech news over the years, actually. It's one of the few outlets I'd consider giving money to, if not for its outrageous price.

Examples of their stuff: https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=theinformation.com

The Information is well known but the price is intentionally exclusionary, it's not aimed at average readers or average consumption.

Yes, god forbid the rubes have access to such a respectable publication.

You don't miss much really. The article is pretty light on information.

I'm a subscriber, my share link is http://go.theinformation.com/323a8c4b22a41706 (still have to give an email to access)

Wow, this really should not be on HN if I have to both search the comments and give up my email to read it.

https://pastebin.com/UvDcDsk5

Reply on news.ycombinator.com