
Binary co-founder blames “corrupted” media for his resignation offer - craigkerstiens
https://www.axios.com/jonathan-teo-blames-corrupted-media-for-his-resignation-2456398025.html
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reuven
So a VC admits to long-standing sexual harassment, his firm admits that they
knew about it and did nothing, and it's the media's fault that the firm is in
the news for being slimy? The mind boggles.

It's true: A VC's job is to protect the integrity of the firm's portfolio. But
there's no contradiction (I'd like to think) between protecting the portfolio
and engaging in decent, upstanding behavior.

This sort of e-mail just re-enforces the belief that these guys were mostly
upset about being caught, and don't really recognize how bad their behavior
was.

~~~
ChristianGeek
Textbook Narcissism.

------
chasing
> The news we read and have access to is a problem. Media has been corrupted.
> The voice of many have been diluted by the agendas of a few.

I, uh, don't think this is the problem, here.

> What I think is that we are an industry full of entitled human beings.

Some more than others. But, yes. Apparently.

> My job is not to make you all feel good [...] My job is to preserve the
> integrity of the portfolio we built up and the value in it, and to ensure
> the resources you count on do not dematerialize.

Ah, there it is. This entire letter could've just been this.

> I am angry that women have felt hurt. I am angry that many have been hurt.

No you're not. See above.

I get that this may've been written in the heat of the moment, but this is an
embarrassment.

------
strangeloops85
"The story in the public that you are all trying to buy back shares should be
revised. Not for my sake. If that's what any of you want, ok, but know this. I
strongly urge you not to be considered part of a group of entrepreneurs that
would, at the first sign of trouble or opportunity, choose to renege. It is
dishonorable. And it is opportunistic grandstanding. It will hurt the
perception of your integrity and it will hurt your ability to raise capital
down the line. No investor seeks out that risk. It's not an action of
integrity. I would urge you to separate yourself from that narrative if it
isn't true of your intentions. If it is, I hope you have a very credible
reason to do it besides just doing a shakedown, or to stand outside your
integrity for the sake of media perception. I also recommend you speak to each
reporter who has quoted that erroneous article and have it corrected."

Nice, a threat that speaking against them/him will hurt your ability to raise
money. This seems only barely removed from the retaliation threats and actions
Caldbeck did against the former employee (and others he harassed). Seems like
a great guy to work with! Also, 'Not for my sake', lol.

Seriously, did one of their lawyers not look this over? They're facing a
lawsuit from a former principal alleging extensive retaliation against her
throughout the valley, and I suspect this email will wind up being a pretty
compelling exhibit in the case.

This does certainly cast yet another shadow on all the public remonstrations
of fealty and support shown on various social media channels towards him. In
the future, you may want to wait a bit and see how things shake out.

~~~
strangeloops85
Also, holy crap is this terrible: "There are victims out there paying for
oppression with their lives. As for the people here that whine that they
aren't taken care of, who have not to worry about their lives being taken from
them or their basic needs met, who owes them more than the voice they already
have access to? To these whiners who want me to constantly address their
questions preemptively, I say that we all have priorities."

If I'm reading this correctly, he's basically telling the women/URMs of
Silicon Valley, "Hey, at least you're not dying of hunger here, stop whining."
I'm really not sure telling those who face harassment and significant
discrimination on a daily basis here that they are 'whiners' is a good
response to this fiasco. But, then again, I don't run a VC with management
fees that would presumably give me access to a world-class PR firm..

What is furthermore galling about this email to his founders is the lack of
contrition towards them for the difficult position he and Binary have put them
in. His actions and the actions of the firm have undoubtedly caused a great
deal of distraction, angst, heartache and anger within the portfolio firms,
and those founders deserve nothing but an apology from him. Instead, they are
berated and threatened! Why on Earth would anyone read this and ever want to
work with him as an investor?

------
zzalpha
What I find most surprising about this email is the juvenile tone. "Moronic",
"whiners", accusing investors of "reneging" and "grandstanding".

I'm not surprised to see a C-level that's self-important and holier-than-thou,
but I also expect professionalism and decorum, if only to avoid burning
bridges.

~~~
JohnTHaller
It's the same tone the current president of the United States uses in public
tweets, so it is unfortunately not that unusual anymore.

------
nodesocket
This may not be a popular opinion, but hear me out. I do have some intimate
experience with witch hunting and the _current_ media... The "witch hunt" is
real and fueled by the internet, misinformation, playing on emotions, and
outrage.

Let me be super clear... I am not condoning Caldbeck in the least, after all,
he did admit guilt. My comment is entirely focused on the hypocrisy of the
_current_ media, pretending to stand on the moral pedestal of society, but
really just trying to incite outrage to generate pageviews, which generates ad
revenue and keeps them in business.

Second, has anybody ever taken a look at the editors, bloggers, and writers at
media outlets? I'd predict they as a group are not as diverse as you'd expect.
Liberal arts college educated, making middle class salaries. Probably not the
group of deep thinkers and intellectuals we'd like to believe.

~~~
zzalpha
_The "witch hunt" is real and fueled by the internet, misinformation, playing
on emotions, and outrage._

It's not a witch hunt if it actually happened. It's just news.

Is it perhaps the case that the media are now doggedly rooting out this kind
of thing in SV because it's pushing page views? Sure. But why does that
matter? These incidents are real, and it's about time the silence was broken
about it.

Is the media, itself, immune to this kind of thing? Obviously not. Fox News
provides ample examples. But, again, why is that relevant in this specific
context? Does it make Calbeck's actions less serious? Should the media _not_
pursue these very real stories? Should the victims keep silent?

I'm just trying to understand the thrust of your comment, here... because I
honestly don't see where you're going with this. It strikes me as mud slinging
just to make sure everyone looks equally dirty, in order to somehow minimize
what folks like Caldbeck have done.

~~~
imron
> It's not a witch hunt if it actually happened

It can be. Take the case of Nobel prize winning scientist Tim Hunt who was
excoriated online and off and later resigned for comments he in a speech made
about woman in science.

Those comments actually happened, but later a full transcript of his speech
revealed them to be just a rather poor joke amid comments praising women in
science, and were not representative of his actual views and actions over the
course of his career.

Then there was the Rosetta mission scientist who caught flak for wearing a
risqué tshirt, which actually happened, but the outcry was far
disproportionate to the crime especially as it was later revealed that the
shirt was given to him in the first place by a female friend.

So it is possible for witch hunts to occur even for things that 'actually
happened'

~~~
zzalpha
You're arguing a technicality regarding one pithy sentence in my comment.

Caldbeck sexually harassed women. Period. He confessed to it. He's now being
sued for it.

This is not, in any way, shape, or form, anything remotely resembling a "witch
hunt". It's literally the opposite of that, in that the person being accused
of the crime is guilty of said crime.

~~~
imron
> You're arguing a technicality regarding one pithy sentence in my comment.

You're right. My comment was nothing about the case involving Caldbeck, in
fact, my entire point was to call out that pithy comment because I don't think
it's something that is generally true (even if it might be true in this case).

------
goseeastarwar
If anyone was left that wanted to work with Jonathan Teo and Binary, this
email certainly took care of that. What makes this particularly astounding is
he knew it would be leaked, so he wrote this nonsense knowing full-well the
public would read it.

------
grandalf
I think it's easy in situations like this to assume that one party must be
right and the other wrong. Chances are for Caldbeck and for his accusers, many
signals got mixed up and misread.

Yes it is possible Caldbeck is a cunning predator who knew exactly what he
could get away with and used his clout as a VC to grope and harass many women,
but it's far more likely that he is not. Far more likely he isn't all that
smooth with women and ham-handedly attempted to woo his victims.

He failed to realize how the power dynamic influenced things. This is
important for anyone in a position of power to realize. My moment of
realization was when I noticed that every single person on a team I led
laughed at a joke I made. I realized something was off. The joke simply wasn't
_that_ funny. It's easy to see how simple flattery (which is quite normal when
dealing with VCs) might have thrown off Caldbeck's compass. Yes I'd expect
someone with his level of experience to be aware of it, but some people can go
years without realizing they are being flattered.

This is in no way meant to minimize the poor judgment Caldbeck used or to cast
any blame at all on his victims. VC is a unique world that is fad-driven and
reputation-driven and so the founder of a very hot company has tremendous
power over investors, but all other founders are essentially beggars.

I know Jonathan and he's an exceptionally gracious person whose behavior is
completely reserved and respectful. I imagine he's quite disappointed about
being lumped into all this and having his company's brand ruined by it and his
name dragged through the mud for Caldbeck's poor judgment.

~~~
mehwoot
_He failed to realize how the power dynamic influenced things._

Yes, but I bet he realizes it now. That's the entire point of naming and
shaming this behaviour. If you don't understand the negatives of your actions
eventually people are going to tell you you're in the wrong. Hopefully you
have enough good friends or colleagues who you respect that are able to tell
you when you're in the wrong before it gets to this stage.

~~~
grandalf
I agree with this.

------
parisandmilo
i don’t understand how these people are all over the press and love it if
something they can boast about happens, but hate the press when something that
they are ashamed of, but don’t want to change, happens

------
throwawayqf24
My friend another programmer (specialist in C#) and he was wanted to know if
women in startups is happy with this outcome and with the "heads rolling", and
if itis outcome that they would wanted - if improves startup industry for
them. The womens I know not answering my questions (maybe part of silence
which problem in industry, maybe problem is I or way of ask) but this
anonymous forum here, so maybe if women is here you could answering? Is this
results improve situation for you, and what you liked?

Maybe answer is obvious yes. Sorry to asking. In articles by womens she talked
about experiences but not mentioned ask to remove of VC's, but maybe is best
outcome.

if not woman please not answer: easy to read 1,000 comments from men.

if my comment is hurts you please to mention of this and I remove.

