Firing Back: On Monday, Steve Jurvetson, co-founder of noted venture capital firm DFJ, said he was leaving the company while an internal investigation into alleged misconduct on his part continues. Jurvetson said he would “focus on personal matters, including taking legal action against those whose false statements have defamed me.”
Well, if you didn’t see it already, Jurvetson has wasted little time saying what he really thinks about the allegations against him. As many people do these days when they want to get their message out, Jurvetson took to social media, with a long Facebook post denying any wrongdoing related to harrassment of any kind on his part.
“It is excruciating to learn just how quickly, in one news cycle, people conclude that because I have left DFJ there must be some credence to vicious and wholly false allegations about sexual predation and workplace harassment,” Jurvetson said. “Let me be perfectly clear: no such allegations are true.”
Jurvetson didn’t name any names, but pretty much called out those whose opinions spearheaded his departure.
“I left DFJ because of interpersonal dynamics with my partners. The three-month investigation, that has yet to conclude (and I welcome the results whenever that takes place), broke down a normal team dynamic into factions that isolate communications and defer to the advice of lawyers,” Jurvetson said. “Add a modicum of stress (such as implied allegations in the press) and deadlines (our annual LP meeting is today), and people show a different side of their personality. I did. So did my partners. It’s incredibly sad to see how things broke down, and the acrimony that arose between us.”
Legal action could be in the cards for Jurvetson, but that would require him to say more about his leaving DFJ. And for now, he intends on keeping his mouth shut.
“This is the last I will say on this subject for the foreseeable future.” Jurvestson wrote.
A New Rat Pack Place?: Oracle Chairman and co-founder Larry Ellison could be headed up to Lake Tahoe a little more frequently now. After all, if you spend almost $36 million on a place that used to belong to Frank Sinatra, the original Chairman of the Board, you should probably get some use out of it, right?
No Deals Here: Shopping around the day after Thanksgiving always brings a plethora of deals and sale prices from retailers hoping to juice their businesses at the start of the Christmas shopping season. But if you thought you might get a Black Friday bargain on a home in the Bay Area, think again.
Quote of the Day: “The entrepreneurial ecosystem can breathe a sigh of relief.” — Bobby Franklin, president and CEO of the National Venture Capital Association, in a statement. Franklin was speaking about Silicon Valley’s efforts to help eliminate a provision in the Senate Republicans’ tax plan that would have changed the taxing structure for company stock options.
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