Tech founder and VC sex harassment whistleblower: More men should speak out, because their silence is deafening

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July 19, 2017 9:23 PM

Niniane Wang, the CEO of Evertoon, has become the willing and very deliberate face of the latest sexual harassment scandal rocking Silicon Valley.

Both men and women need to step forward to stop sexual harassment, Evertoon CEO Niniane Wang told a crowd at the Fortune Brainstorm conference.

But eight hours after the story published, it seemed as if no had one noticed. There was no buzz on social media, no phone ringing off the hook.

"I felt like I jumped off cliff and took two people with me," she said. The worst thing was to come forward and not have any impact.

But then Ellen Pao reached out to her. Pao, who is known for suing Kleiner Perkins, her former employer, for sex discrimination, is a friend and investor, Wang told the audience. Although Pao lost her suit against the famous venture capital firm, she remains an outspoken advocate for women in tech. Soon after, Pao started tweeting the story about Caldbeck. Other news outlets noticed and wrote about it.

At first

More women have since stepped forward with accusations about other VCs. Such accusations led to the resignation of 500 Startups' Dave McClure. A third VC, Ignition Partners Frank Artale, soon resigned, too, after he was accused of "misconduct."

The series of scandals has shocked the Valley. We've talked to a number of male startup CEOs who told us they have gone to their VC investors and asked the VCs to verify that they are not protecting any investors accused of similar misdeeds.

First and foremost, the Valley has to stop thinking about sexual harassment and gender discrimination as issues that just concern women, she said.

I think men should speak out," she said.

Men might worry they'll say the wrong things and get jumped on despite their good intentions. But what's would be far worse for the situation is "deafening silence, particularly from men," she said.

Wang also offered this advice on how to stop sexual harassment for good:

Many women fear speaking out about sexual harassment. But Wang hasn't really suffered any of the repercussions she feared.

Quite the opposite, in fact. Instead of reprisals, she's received many emails of support. One VC even told her, "A check is waiting for you," she told the crowd here.

"I thought I was jumping off the cliff, and I would be somewhat damaged," she said. "But I feel that halfway off the cliff, the community caught me."

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