Silicon Valley venture capital companies need to get their act together in terms of how women are treated. That includes more respectful treatment of staffers and fellow investors but also the female entrepreneurs who’s companies they fund. The New York Times recently spoke with more than two dozen women and “Ten of them named the investors involved, often providing corroborating messages and emails, and pointed to high-profile venture capitalists such as Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital and Dave McClure of 500 Startups.” In a blog post titled “I’m a Creep, I’m Sorry, McClue admitted that he “made advances towards multiple women in work-related situations, where it was clearly inappropriate.” He said that he “put people in compromising and inappropriate situations,”and “selfishly took advantage of those situations where I should have known better. My behavior was inexcusable and wrong.”
Chris Sacca blogged a more limited apology in responses to a woman’s charges against him. “While I dispute the account of what happened that day, eight years ago, I do own that in the past, especially in the early days of my career, I have sometimes played a role in the larger phenomenon of women not always feeling welcome in our industry.”