6 ms·

I 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 t

I 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/ http://nypost.com/2012/06/11/of-love-and-lottsa-lawsuits/ and http://nypost.com/2015/02/18/case-builds-against-former-ny-hedgie-buddy-fletcher/ 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.)

birken 12y ago
I've seen VCs sleeping during partner meetings. I don't want to defend that type of behavior, but I don't think it is necessarily indicative of some deeper issues. If your company isn't in the area of expertise of a particular VC, I would imagine those meetings aren't the most exciting thing in the world and it would be easy to be uninterested.
bjwbell 12y ago
Wow, I wish the nyt piece mentioned the fletcher angle.
- defen 12y ago
  It's quite a fascinating angle. In addition to all the financial fraud he's been accused of, before marrying Ms. Pao in 2007, Fletcher was in a gay relationship for at least 10 years: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/18/nyregion/50-million-gift-aims-to-further-legacy-of-brown-case.html http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/18/nyregion/50-million-gift-a... To me, that's interesting. We've all heard of the straight married man who comes out of the closet in mid-life and realizes he is gay, but is it at all common for the opposite to happen? Maybe I just don't know enough people.
  - argonaut 12y ago
    This is quite ignorant. The most likely explanation is bisexuality.
    - defen 12y ago
      Maybe. To me a more likely explanation is that a pair of grifters teamed up to shake down a well-heeled target that they thought would go down easily.
      - argonaut 12y ago
        I'd hardly call that a "more likely" explanation. Not something to be ruled out. But it's a ridiculous conclusion to call the "more likely" explanation.
        lurkha 12y ago
        And bisexuality is ? How convenient he suddenly becomes bisexual after allegations of ponzi schemes pop up.
      - deleted 12y ago
        [deleted]
rdl 12y ago
I've Ellen Pao her in other contexts and found her incredibly engaged and supportive, so it was probably specific to crap going on at KPCB. She is one of the best VCs I've ever interacted with; it sounds like she had a negative situation at KPCB (which hopefully the trial will resolve), but it absolutely isn't about her competence and intelligence otherwise. By all accounts she's also doing very well as an operator at Reddit.
- mahranch 12y ago
  > By all accounts she's also doing very well as an operator at Reddit. That's completely the opposite of what the linked article claims. It says that a reddit employee sent the defense a letter asking to subpena reddit employees regarding conflicts with Ellen Pao.
  - franklinho 12y ago
    Mind you, the article's claim indicates that there is one employee at reddit that disagrees with her. That's no clear indication of her success/failure at reddit.
  - rdl 12y ago
    Yeah, I guess I meant "by every Reddit employee I've talked to, and by observing how much ass the site has been kicking since she joined, and especially since she took over as CEO". It's certainly not exhaustively researched, and I'd expect a company going through changes as massive as Yishan/Ellen wrought (moving everyone to SF from remote, operating more like a startup vs. a nonprofit, etc.), there'd be some discontent.

birken 12y ago

I've seen VCs sleeping during partner meetings. I don't want to defend that type of behavior, but I don't think it is necessarily indicative of some deeper issues. If your company isn't in the area of expertise of a particular VC, I would imagine those meetings aren't the most exciting thing in the world and it would be easy to be uninterested.

bjwbell 12y ago

Wow, I wish the nyt piece mentioned the fletcher angle.

defen 12y ago
It's quite a fascinating angle. In addition to all the financial fraud he's been accused of, before marrying Ms. Pao in 2007, Fletcher was in a gay relationship for at least 10 years: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/18/nyregion/50-million-gift-aims-to-further-legacy-of-brown-case.html http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/18/nyregion/50-million-gift-a... To me, that's interesting. We've all heard of the straight married man who comes out of the closet in mid-life and realizes he is gay, but is it at all common for the opposite to happen? Maybe I just don't know enough people.
- argonaut 12y ago
  This is quite ignorant. The most likely explanation is bisexuality.
  - defen 12y ago
    Maybe. To me a more likely explanation is that a pair of grifters teamed up to shake down a well-heeled target that they thought would go down easily.
    - argonaut 12y ago
      I'd hardly call that a "more likely" explanation. Not something to be ruled out. But it's a ridiculous conclusion to call the "more likely" explanation.
      - lurkha 12y ago
        And bisexuality is ? How convenient he suddenly becomes bisexual after allegations of ponzi schemes pop up.
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]

rdl 12y ago

I've Ellen Pao her in other contexts and found her incredibly engaged and supportive, so it was probably specific to crap going on at KPCB. She is one of the best VCs I've ever interacted with; it sounds like she had a negative situation at KPCB (which hopefully the trial will resolve), but it absolutely isn't about her competence and intelligence otherwise. By all accounts she's also doing very well as an operator at Reddit.

mahranch 12y ago
> By all accounts she's also doing very well as an operator at Reddit. That's completely the opposite of what the linked article claims. It says that a reddit employee sent the defense a letter asking to subpena reddit employees regarding conflicts with Ellen Pao.
- franklinho 12y ago
  Mind you, the article's claim indicates that there is one employee at reddit that disagrees with her. That's no clear indication of her success/failure at reddit.
- rdl 12y ago
  Yeah, I guess I meant "by every Reddit employee I've talked to, and by observing how much ass the site has been kicking since she joined, and especially since she took over as CEO". It's certainly not exhaustively researched, and I'd expect a company going through changes as massive as Yishan/Ellen wrought (moving everyone to SF from remote, operating more like a startup vs. a nonprofit, etc.), there'd be some discontent.