Dave McClure, co-founder of the venture fund 500 Startups, took to Medium on Saturday to make an open apology and come clean about his mistreatment of female co-workers, after an allegation of sexual harassment was made against him. In his post, he acknowledged that he made several inappropriate advances towards women and was deeply sorry for his actions.
Here is an excerpt from his post:
“I made advances towards multiple women in work-related situations, where it was clearly inappropriate. I put people in compromising and inappropriate situations, and I selfishly took advantage of those situations where I should have known better. My behavior was inexcusable and wrong.
With respect to the NYT article above and Sarah Kunst specifically, I’d like to sincerely apologize for making inappropriate advances towards her several years ago over drinks, late one night in a small group, where she mentioned she was interested in a job at 500. While I did not offer her a job at the time, a few days/weeks later I did refer her to my co-founder Christine Tsai to begin a formal interview process with 500, where Christine and others on the team met with her. Ultimately, 500 decided not to offer Sarah a job. Again my apologies to Sarah for my inappropriate behavior in a setting I thought was social, but in hindsight was clearly not. It was my fault and I take full responsibility. She was correct in calling me out.
For these and other incidents where I have been at fault, I would like to apologize for being a clueless, selfish, unapologetic and defensive ass.
To all those I let down, and especially to those I directly offended and hurt: I’m very sorry.”
After being asked about this matter, 500 Startups said when they were notified, they made internal changes and ensured that McClure was no longer in charge of daily operations.
A company spokesperson said, ”He recognizes he has made mistakes and has been going through counseling to work on addressing changes in his previous unacceptable behavior.”
Megha Shah for TechFunnel.com
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