Moritz Taking Heat For Comments About Hiring Women

[Palumboism]

Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY
Michael Moritz is taking heat for controversial remarks he made about why one of Silicon Valley's most famous venture capital firms has no female investing partners.

When asked by Bloomberg's Emily Chang if he was seeking out women to fill positions at Sequoia Capital, Moritz said he hasn't been able to find any.

"Oh, we look very hard. In fact we just hired a young woman from Stanford who's every bit as good as her peers, and if there are more like her, we'll hire them. What we’re not prepared to do is to lower our standards," said Moritz, one of the best-known venture capitalists in Silicon Valley who built a fortune by investing in the likes of Google, Apple, YouTube and PayPal.

He continued: "If there are fabulously bright, driven women who are really interested in technology, very hungry to succeed and can meet our performance standards, we'd hire them all day and night. ... Our job is to field the very best team."

The backlash came swiftly on social media and in scathing headlines, such as this one from technology news outlet Re/code, "Venerated VC Michael Moritz Opens Mouth, Inserts Foot on Question About Hiring Women," or this one from Vanity Fair, "Silicon Valley V.C. Firm Can’t Find Any Women."

"The belief that hiring women and having high standards are somehow at odds is as incorrect as it is offensive," said Joelle Emerson, CEO and founder of Paradigm, a strategy firm that consults with tech companies on diversity and inclusion.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/12/03/michael-moritz-sequoia-capital-women-diversity-silicon-valley/76736642/


Do you agree with Mr. Moritz comments?

[Palumboism]

Emily Chang:
Discussing the topic on Bloomberg TV’s Studio 1.0, Moritz said, “We look very hard. What we’re not prepared to do is to lower our standards. But if there are fabulously bright, driven women who are really interested in technology, very hungry to succeed, and can meet our performance standards, we’d hire them all day and night.”

That comment, televised on Wednesday night, was met with outrage on Twitter, where people condemned Moritz for archaic thinking and for not working hard enough to attract a diverse partnership. Ellen Pao, who unsuccessfully sued the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield Byers for gender discrimination, tweeted: “Wow … pipeline and standards are such lame excuses.” Chamath Palihapitiya, a former executive at Facebook and founder of the venture fund Social Capital Partnership, tweeted: “This point of view is ridiculous. Sign and language of the past.”

On Thursday, Moritz e-mailed Bloomberg with a clarification. “I know there are many remarkable women who would flourish in the venture business. We’re working hard to find them and would be ecstatic if more joined Sequoia or other firms,” he wrote. Sequoia Capital added on its Twitter account, “We need to do better.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-03/michael-moritz-amends-remarks-about-lack-of-female-investors-at-sequoia


He's already been forced to back peddle.

[El Diablo Blanco]

I would only hire the best no matter the color, sex or whatever.  I hate how companies force you to hire a certain person.  In my old company we were told by HR that all new hires must be females as we didn't meat a diversity quota.  Fucking bullshit.

[Irongrip400]

I agree with him, and it's sad he has had to back peddle because of PC bullshit. Men are better risk takers. We are stupider in some instances as well, but because we take more risk, we are able to real more rewards.

[Palumboism]

I agree with him, and it's sad he has had to back peddle because of PC bullshit. Men are better risk takers. We are stupider in some instances as well, but because we take more risk, we are able to real more rewards.

My personal belief is that affirmative action is detrimental to companies and the economy as a whole.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with Moritz said. 

[f450]

why are there not more female garbage collectors.. Its basically  100% male.

I dont see any feminists fighting for equality there.

[muscularny]

why are there not more female garbage collectors.. Its basically  100% male.

I dont see any feminists fighting for equality there.

good point, especially given they are good at collecting garbage