6 Women Accuse Tech VC Justin Caldbeck of Sexual Assault and Harassment
I met Justin Calback one week before the news exploded. I was so shocked, even though I have not (yet?) had awkward experience with Justin (he has actually has been pretty helpful).<p>Throughout my work on both sides of the table, I’ve been lucky to have met many very helpful and respected mentors/peers, however, this “risk of networking for female” has never been strange. It started with this: I reached out to someone for advice/business, meetings went great and constructive, a couple of emails and coffee, before I got excited about having a great connection, they may ask for a drink. At first, I was confused but agreed, wondering if this is the “valley/American culture” that I should get used to, then things unexpectedly turned awkward even if I tried to keep the conversations professional. Eventually, I don’t know how to maintain this connection.<p>Now that I’ve learned to “keep things professional”, but compared to my male friends’ networking experience, I still haven’t figured out the best boundary to set. Does “being professional” mean that I can’t have personal talks with male professionals? If a guy can be both professional connection and personal friend with another guy, why can’t I? I thought that only Asian people mix business and personal connections (given how popular wechat has been used as a “virtual business card” in China), turns out that in US, it’s not that different: you see male investors get drinks to catch up or meet new friends, afterwards they become good business partners.<p>I believe this is not the first time a female talk about this. Many people’s reaction may be: oh she must have given some hint that caused misunderstanding, or, when a guy does that, just stay away from him.<p>Hey, what if an attractive lady got into this uncomfortable situation from 1/3 of her networking?<p>I’m not here to complain. I’m sincerely hoping to hear some advice on how to best handle this networking difficulty, because as far as I know, I’m not alone.