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The bigger thread has already been downvoted off the front page and this one is falling quickly. Disgusting. For all the down voters: Justin just admitted that
by ithinkinstereo 9y ago
The bigger thread has already been downvoted off the front page and this one is falling quickly. Disgusting.
For all the down voters: Justin just admitted that all the accusations are true. https://www.axios.com/justin-caldbeck-takes-indefinite-leave-of-absence-from-binary-capital-2446988189.html https://www.axios.com/justin-caldbeck-takes-indefinite-leave...
The past 24 hours have been the darkest of my life. I have made many mistakes over the course of my career, some of which were brought to light this week. To say I'm sorry about my behavior is a categorical understatement. Still, I need to say it: I am so, so sorry.
I direct my apology first to those women who I've made feel uncomfortable in any way, at any time - but also to the greater tech ecosystem, a community that I have utterly failed.
The power dynamic that exists in venture capital is despicably unfair. The gap of influence between male venture capitalists and female entrepreneurs is frightening and I hate that my behavior played a role in perpetrating a gender-hostile environment. It is outrageous and unethical for any person to leverage a position of power in exchange for sexual gain, it is clear to me now that that is exactly what I've done.
I am deeply ashamed of my lack of self-awareness. I am grateful to Niniane, Susan, Leiti, and the other women who spoke up for providing me with a sobering look into my own character and behavior that I can no longer ignore. The dynamic of this industry makes it hard to speak up, but this is the type of action that leads to progress and change, starting with me.
I will be taking an indefinite leave of absence from Binary Capital, the firm I co-founded in 2014. I will be seeking professional counseling as I take steps to reflect on my behavior with and attitude towards women. I will find ways to learn from this difficult experience - and to help drive necessary changes in the broader venture community.
The Binary team will also be taking measures to ensure that the firm is a safe place for founders of all backgrounds to find the support and resources they need to change the world, without abuse of power or mistreatment of any person.
I owe a heartfelt apology to my family, my investors, my portfolio, and the team at Binary, who have been completely blindsided and in no way deserve the pain I've caused. But most of all I apologize again to those who I've hurt during the course of my career - and for the damage I've done to the industry I care so deeply about.
- leereeves 9y ago> The bigger thread has already been downvoted off the front page Isn't that the result of a Hacker News algorithm that hides stories that receive a lot of comments in a short time?
- throwanem 9y agoI gather that recency of submission and high comment rate contribute to a "controversiality" metric which can weight a story off the front page. But given the HN moderators' generally thoughtful style, I would not be surprised to see either that story retrieved and this one's comments folded into its thread, or that one's comments folded into this.
- genericpseudo 9y agoThe problem isn't the mods' local actions (though the mods are not nearly as assertive as I would like in this area); it's the Hacker News community's toleration of bigots and therefore the macro action of failing to remove them. Inaction is a form of action.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- Thriptic 9y agoI didn't down vote these stories, but to be blunt they aren't value adding content. I come to hacker news for interesting discussions and to learn. Reading yet another story about sexism or inequality in tech doesn't add any value to my life. The stories are predictable; the comments are predictable; and there are very few opportunities for meaningful discussion or learning. I therefore typically ignore them and I can understand why others down vote them. Bitching about things online isn't action. Changing behavior offline is action, and I doubt these stories generate any meaningful behavioral changes among the groups that need them, so what's the point?
- ebola1717 9y agoIs that really how it works? Stories about Uber typically get high comment rates, and I usually see them near the top.
- maxxxxx 9y agoThat's pretty impressive. Usually they somehow turn around the whole issue during this kind of "apology" but he pretty much says he behaved badly and that's it. Edit: After reading https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14622737 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14622737 I think he is just a big asshole who wants to make this go away so he can get back to business. No real remorse.
- obstinate 9y agoIt would be more impressive to not harass women founders. This apology moves him above harassers who don't apologize, but still miles below non-harassers. Beware of giving someone too much credit for doing something very harmful, then apologizing for it effusively. It doesn't undo the harm.
- Jemmeh 9y agoI really wanna hear from people who are downvoting this. It's right to still be mad at him even if he apologizes!
- obstinate 9y agoPar for the course when it comes to women's issues on this site. Sad but true. There are a lot of men on here, and it's hard to see things that don't affect you directly.
- debaserab2 9y agoSo how long do we have to ostracize him for before we can treat him like a human being again? Or does he wear the scarlett letter forever now? Is it not okay to note that he appears to be taking the right first steps?
- vkou 9y agoUntil he is removed from positions of power over women, and steps are taken towards making sure that it won't happen again? Serial drunk drivers lose their license, and get sent to AA. Serial harassment... I'm not sure what institution exists to deal with that problem. A shrink? Welfare?
- rattray 9y agoCan you share a link to the other thread?
- QuotedForTruth 9y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14621397 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14621397
- savanaly 9y agoAlthough it doesn't redeem him, I have to give it to Caldbeck that that's the best possible response I think it's possible to give.
- vkou 9y agoI am almost certain that if there wasn't hard evidence, we would have seen nothing of the sort. He's an adult businessman - he should have, and he almost certainly did know better!
- ddoolin 9y agoHe initially aggressively denied, then gave a lukewarm accepting response, then this. That may lend some credence to your theory.
- logicallee 9y ago[withdrawn]
- opportune 9y ago" such deep and genuine self-awareness" Lol, seriously? This is standard PR bullshit. Clearly in this situation, the evidence was so cut-and-dry and unambiguous that Caldbeck had no choice but to admit defeat. The type of person that repeatedly engages in this behavior is not at all the type of person to be sobered by excellent communication. He just saw the writing on the wall.
- wyldfire 9y agoStandard PR bullshit is terse by design. This sounds sincere. > evidence was so cut-and-dry and unambiguous that Caldbeck had no choice but to admit defeat. Usually when there's unambiguous evidence, people challenge the premise/context/authenticity of the evidence.
- opportune 9y agoText messages' authenticity can be verified. I think he knew that he was screwed.
- dragonwriter 9y ago> Usually when there's unambiguous evidence, people challenge the premise/context/authenticity of the evidence His earlier statement challenged the context (though only vaguely, stating that there was significant context that was omitted from the reports.)
- logicallee 9y ago[withdrawn]
- opportune 9y agoI'm not saying he didn't write this himself. But I am saying that if I were in his position and knew that I had no way of getting out of something like this, I would have no trouble at all (technically, not morally) faking sincerity and admitting all my actions while tying them into a larger framework such as sexism in the startup industry. It's an admission of guilt. It's not brave, it's just an unconditional surrender.
- nether 9y agoBrogrammer culture is falling. Beautiful.
- untog 9y agoDon't worry, this has already been flagged as a dupe. Sigh.
- sctb 9y ago> The bigger thread has already been downvoted off the front page and this one is falling quickly. Disgusting. The main thread (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14621397 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14621397) is back on the front page. The software had applied a mild ranking penalty which we've overridden, but it hasn't been flagged off by users.
- renaudg 9y agoHow do you decide when to manually override a post ?
- anothercomment 9y agoMaybe it is not even that interesting - a guy overstepped his boundaries? Few readers are probably deep enough in Startup Culture to have heard of him or Binary Capital, so why is it relevant?