Venture capitalists spent 2018 welcoming women to the fold, but the welcome has been fitful, uneven and, scariest of all, tentative.
One year ago this month, Shervin Pishevar, an early investor in Uber, was ousted from his venture capital firm, Sherpa Capital, over sexual harassment allegations. He appears to be quietly back as the CEO of a scooter startup called Bolt, records reveal.
Dave McClure was forced out of his own startup accelerator, 500 Startups, in ignominy a few months before that. He apologized for being a “creep.” Now he’s writing a book about how to excel as a venture capitalist.
Sexual harassment allegations against these two venture capitalists and others helped kickstart a movement to break up the boys’ club of Silicon Valley investing. Their impending returns, previously unreported, are reminders that #MeToo jail time can be short — and that the larger project of reforming Silicon Valley’s inequities hasn’t always gone according to plan.
A year ago, Silicon Valley investors looked around and saw their mostly-male world in free fall. Harvey Weinstein was no longer the Hollywood kingmaker — he was a rapist. Matt Lauer was not just a friendly morning television host — he was a serial predator. Some of the most powerful men in Silicon Valley were on edge. Unvetted accusations flowed, as did the schadenfreude: The hushed question at cocktail parties and coffees went, “Hey, do you know who is next?”
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