Silicon Valley has had a problem with sexual harassment in the workplace for a long time, but only now does it seem that the tech industry is coming to terms with the issue.
One indicator: When venture capital firm Binary Capital decided to oust its cofounder Justin Caldbeck after a pair of investigations from The Information and The New York Times revealed that six women had accused him of sexual harassment. The Times report also included numerous stories from female startup founders and entrepreneurs who recounted cases where they had either been harassed or made to feel uncomfortable by men in the industry, many of whom were investors. Among them, the women named high-profile venture capitalists including Chris Sacca, entrepreneur-turned investor Marc Canter and 500 Startups CEO Dave McClure, who resigned from his role earlier this week.
That’s on top of the string of controversies at Uber Technologies Inc., which involved two investigations into the ride-hailing startup’s company culture, including sexual harassment claims from a former engineer, Susan Fowler. The controversies ensnared Uber for several months, ultimately leading to the resignation of CEO Travis Kalanick and the departures of numerous high-profile executives, including business chief Emil Michael and senior vice president of engineering Amit Singhal.
The allegations have kicked off something of a reckoning among Silicon Valley investors, executives, entrepreneurs and other observers. The New England Venture Capital Association, a trade group, encouraged its members to sign a pledge against discrimination and gender bias. Prominent VCs such as Bain Capital Ventures have since signed on.
LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partners venture capitalist Reid Hoffman wrote a post laying out some of the steps Silicon Valley should take to resolve what he considers “entirely immoral and outrageous behavior.” Part of that, Hoffman wrote, is getting people to adopt a “#DecencyPledge” to signify their support of harassment victims. Another, perhaps more influential, suggestion is to…