500 Startups removes Dave McClure from helm over sexual misconduct accusations

Photo credit: 500 Startups.

Dave McClure, the co-founder of prolific Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm 500 Startups, has stepped down from his managing role over allegations of sexual harassment.

The move was announced by McClure’s co-founder, Christine Tsai, in a June 30 blog post. Tsai has taken over the day-to-day at 500 Startups, while McClure will only fulfill his obligations to investors as general partner. “We made the decision a few months ago to change the leadership structure,” she writes.

However, while the change in leadership happened months ago, the fund’s limited partners say they have been kept uninformed about the development. Some are asking for their money back, according to Pando.

They only found out about the move through a New York Times story which implicated McClure and another venture capitalist, Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital, in what was dubbed as “culture of harassment” in the industry. Tsai’s blog post came after that story was published.

McClure has apologized for his behavior. “I made advances towards multiple women in work-related situations, where it was clearly inappropriate,” he confesses.

“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 further adds that Tsai and the senior management at 500 Startups were not aware of his actions “until recently.”

McClure and Sacca are the latest names to be linked into sexual misconduct by investors. More than a week ago, The Information reported about Binary Capital co-founder Justin Caldbeck’s alleged inappropriate behavior toward several women in tech. One woman said Caldbeck tried to sleep with her while he was recruiting her for a job. Caldbeck has since resigned.

For his part, Sacca, whose early investments included ride-hailing company Uber, has issued a public apology.

(Update on July 2: Added further developments into the story.)