Last week, in response to a Black entrepreneur who claimed that venture capitalists are racist, venture capitalist and entrepreneur Vc Joe Lonsdale’s Tweets blamed discrepancies in venture capital investing on “typical black culture,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
As Lonsdale put it in the now-deleted set of tweets, “A real view: typical black culture needs to pick it up and stop having as many kids born out of wedlock (a statistical sign of underperformance) / who don’t value school or spend as much time on homework.”
Several internet investors, including Yahoo founder Jerry Yang, Box CEO Aaron Levie, and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, expressed their displeasure with Lonsdale’s comments, which caused him to call on his advisors and limited partners to come out against the entrepreneur’s conduct.
“[I]t’s not VCs like [Joe Lonsdale] that are holding the tech industry and society back,” Bessemer partner Elliott Robinson remarked in a tweet that included a copy of Lonsdale’s comments. It is the hundreds of LPs, co-Investors, Founders, and decision-makers that remain mute for a variety of reasons, including they do not care, they are afraid, or they agree with the situation. I feel sorry for him/her for having to live in such a manner. It’s a shame.”
Lolita Taub, a stealth-mode general partner who previously invested through Backstage Capital and the Community Fund, has instructed anyone who agrees with Lonsdale’s “racist remarks” to unfollow her on Twitter.
Lightship Capital general partner Brian Brackeen, on the other hand, stated in a tweet that “any LP of his is complicit” and that “there is no shame in being him in SF.” There is a culture in place that accepts people like him. “Until we broaden the scope of diversity in technology, we will continue to see stagnation.”
According to Lonsdale’s response to TechCrunch’s request for additional clarification, the author was “getting on a flight,” but that “someone modified a screenshot and grabbed an entire tweet completely out of context in order to stir outrage.” He went on to say that “the folks who are assaulting me are motivated by political considerations.” They are nearly solely on the far left, and they prefer to engage in divisive assaults rather than collaborate on finding beneficial answers.” Last week, in response to a Black entrepreneur who claimed that venture capitalists are racist, venture capitalist and entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale blamed discrepancies in venture capital investing on “typical black culture,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
As Lonsdale put it in the now-deleted set of tweets, “A real view: typical black culture needs to pick it up and stop having as many kids born out of wedlock (the statistical sign of underperformance) / who don’t value school or spend as much time on homework.”
Several internet investors, including Yahoo founder Jerry Yang, Box CEO Aaron Levie, and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, expressed their displeasure with Lonsdale’s comments, which caused him to call on his advisors and limited partners to come out against the entrepreneur’s conduct.
Entrepreneur Eric Christian Ramses, the founder of Undermine VC as well as the Stanford Robotics Club, was the first entrepreneur to whom Lonsdale reacted in the first instance. He claims that Lonsdale “lied openly” about the tweets being modified, and he provides an image of Lonsdale’s tweets that have been timestamped.
When questioned what exactly was taken out of his tweets, Lonsdale argued that the context surrounding the statements had been removed from the original thread he had created.
“I commented on how past racism is likely to have contributed to issues with some cultures today that we need to discuss and address, and given how terrible some of the things these communities have experienced in the past – redlining, Jim Crow, and so many other terrible issues – it isn’t necessarily fair to blame 100 percent of problems today on racism,” she said. “
He also stated that he has “invested millions of dollars in black founders and relevant philanthropic causes, and we are proud to work with a large number of advisors from these communities.” Lonsdale stated that he will continue “to do more to reach out to talent from these backgrounds and to partner.” As previously stated, it is not only wrong to discriminate, but it is also counterproductive because if someone comes from a difficult past and manages to achieve, it indicates that they are likely to be resilient, which means they are an even better founder to support. “I am excited to continue to support brilliant minority entrepreneurs.”
The company’s spokesman commented that it “doesn’t seem acceptable to publish names and force [anyone] to answer questions” considering how Lonsdale’s “comments were taken out of context,” and that “it doesn’t seem appropriate to list names and force [anyone] to answer questions.”
The financial record of Lonsdale is impressive, but he also has a track record of difficult personal relationships to his credit. Beyond Palantir and 8VC, Lonsdale has founded a number of successful companies, including Addepar, OpenGov, Affinity Software, Epirus Software, Esper Software (formerly known as Esper Software), Swiftscale Bio (formerly known as Resilience Bio), Hearth, and LIT, which recently received a $50 million investment from Tiger Global.
Several issues have revolved around him, including a split with earlier investing partners and a high-profile lawsuit brought against him by a former Stanford student that was subsequently dismissed.
Recent comments by him included the remark that “any man in a prominent position who takes 6 months of leave for a newborn…is a loser.”
Since announcing his old viewpoint on Friday, Lonsdale, whose venture capital firm has been successful in its fundraising efforts despite public outcry, has been striving to clarify his previous position. Earlier in the day, he tweeted: “Worth clarifying: you can be against divisive and ‘woke’nonsense, as I am. But we should continue to embrace the great aspects of our culture and wisdom of the twenty-first century – that it is critical to be aware of historical racism, compassionate, and inclusive, as well as against actual racism of all kinds.”
According to Lonsdale in an e-mailed statement to TechCrunch, “I don’t necessarily expect TC to give me a fair hearing – a sensational article attacking and making [people] believe somebody is racist and getting angry is what you are taught to do in journalism these days – but I hope you’ll consider representing this view fairly.”
It is possible that Lonsdale’s provocative remarks will bring unfavorable attention to his venture firm and make founders less likely to take his money in a competitive and cash-rich fundraising environment. Even before delivering his most recent remarks on stage, Block Party co-founder Tracy Chou stated on Twitter that Lonsdale had spoken to her Y Combinator class, and she described his remarks on stage as “terribly unpleasant.”
Even after everything that has happened, he is still being held up as an example and given guidance by the establishment, she wrote in a Twitter thread.
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Between now and then, Lonsdale may have a more difficult time partnering with the tiny but growing number of Black investors in the venture capital business. Del Johnson, a fund manager at Revere VC, and Spencer Tyson, an associate at the firm, were among the numerous investors who rushed to Twitter in the aftermath of Lonsdale’s statements to express their displeasure with him. ‘What you, and many others, fail to realize is that there is a difference between ‘woke’ culture and BLACK culture,’ Tyson wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times. “We’re not your wealthy liberal buddies with whom you have heated debates at dinner parties… “You made a slam against BLACK culture.”
For the time being, Lonsdale is continuing his efforts to put his past words into proper context. As part of his response, Lonsdale tweeted, “The data implies that structural difficulties (largely driven by historical racism) are holding individuals back and creating inequity, rather than racism on the part of venture capitalists.”
