‘I’m a creep’: Tech investor McClure quits 500 Startups
Resignation spurred by harassment complaint last fall
Prominent technology investor Dave McClure has resigned from the start-up incubator he co-founded for engaging in “inappropriate interactions with women in the tech community.”
McClure, who already stepped down as CEO of 500 Startups but had remained a general partner in many of its funds, did not respond to a request for comment. On Twitter, he said: “In best interest of @500Startups & at request co-founder @christine_tsai, i am resigning effective immediately. pls support christine/500.”
On Saturday he published a blog post entitled “I’m a creep. I’m sorry.”
“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,” he wrote.
A 500 Startups spokeswoman, Kelsey Cullen, confirmed McClure’s resignation.
The resignation — spurred by a complaint in November by entrepreneur Sarah Kunst, who over the weekend called on McClure to resign — came as 500 Startups came under growing pressure from limited partners.
Another female founder, Cheryl Y. Sew Hoy, came forward Monday, alleging in a blog post that McClure made unwanted sexual advances toward her.
“We appreciate Cheryl speaking up and realize how upsetting and painful it is for her to have gone through that experience,” 500 Startups said in a statement.
The venture capital world in Silicon Valley is facing heavy scrutiny after six women accused Binary Capital partner Justin Caldbeck of making unwanted sexual advances, with several saying the misconduct took place when they sought funding or guidance on their businesses. The explosive allegations have brought the venture capital firm Caldbeck co-founded to the brink of collapse.
Since Caldbeck’s predatory behavior was exposed by technology news outlet The Information, more allegations of sexual misconduct have surfaced, including against McClure.
Kapor Capital is a limited partner in 500 Startups. On Monday, Kapor Capital’s Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor said “the events of 2017 in the tech ecosystem depict a sector gone deeply awry.”
“This is not just a case of a few bad actors. This is not something that is fixable with a pledge or a new policy. This is a culture that has been allowed to fester and to rot by enablers who refused to in- tervene when they witnessed inexcusable behavior or went to great lengths to avoid seeing it,” the diversity advocates wrote in a statement.
“We want to thank those who’ve come forward. We recognize how difficult it is to speak out given the enormous power imbalances and how traumatic their individual experiences have been,” they said. “We will be engaged as limited partners to make sure that the underrepresented founders, partners and employees of 500 Startups are able to carry forward with their work.”
News outlet Axios was first to report his resignation, which was disclosed to limited partners Monday in an email from Christine Tsai, who replaced McClure as CEO of 500 Startups.
One of the 500 Startups partners, Elizabeth Yin, resigned Friday, alleging a lack of transparency by the start-up incubator. According to her resignation note obtained by Axios, a 500 Startups employee reported “unwanted forced physical contact” by McClure in April. After an internal investigation, Yin was told in mid-May that McClure would be stepping away from his management role. However, Yin says the rest of the organization was not informed and, she said, McClure remained active in 500 Startups on a daily basis.
500 Startups released a statement confirming it learned of allegations of “inappropriate behavior” by McClure in April and opened an internal investigation that resulted in Tsai replacing McClure as CEO.
“In May we held a companywide all-hands call and sent an email afterwards that same day notifying the team that Dave had stepped down from day-to-day management of 500,” the start-up incubator wrote. “Throughout the CEO transition Mr. McClure remained at 500 to fulfill his legal responsibilities to the funds as a general partner. Due to the sensitivity of personnel issues and the privacy of all involved, the investigation was kept confidential.”
“I made advances towards multiple women in work-related situations, where it was clearly inappropriate.” Dave McClure, above, in a blog post Saturday