I wish the woman in the audience that was called a “lying bitch” by McClure at a conference had stood up and slapped him in the face without facing bigger repercussions and ostracizm than McClure did for calling her that.
22 answers from the community
I had never heard or read about this incident until I saw your post just now. Dave McClure is an obnoxious failure who thinks that he knows what it takes to start an important company even though he's never done that himself.
I don't think it was that bad. He was playing his badass character, and trying to provoke the audience, as he pretty much always does. In the context he said it, it's not really offensive. Had that woman been a guy, he would probably had said "you are a fucking lier" or whatever, so it wasn't sexist either, the responder just so happened to be a woman. And he was probably right, the iPhone battery life wasn't that good back then.
Please explain to me how "bitch" isn't sexist?
It's sexist in the sense it can only be applied to a woman, in the same way "bastard" can be applied only to a man. But I don't consider the insult in this particular opportunity to be sexist, because this woman wasn't insulted because she was a woman. McClure would have insulted a guy just in the same way, just with different words perhaps.
you sound clueless.
I would love to see you being put in the spotlight and on the spot like this woman was and then explain how this wasn't sexist, embarassing or outight rude.
Heaven forbid someone gets their feelings hurt in real life! Are you for real?
I've been in the spotlight a million times, and in my opinion you can take two approaches, wine and get offended, or lough and be smarter the guy.
I addressed this in a blog post. If you invite or attend an event with Dave and expect him to act civilized, you deserve the same treatment as someone who puts their hand in a lions cage and expects it not to be bit off.
http://drivenforward.com/blog/birds-gotta-sing-dogs-gotta-bark-mcclures-gotta-screw-the-pooch
That's the biggest bullshit I have ever heart. To free him from any personal responsibility with this explanation is just douchebaggy.
He's got a point. It's like going to see a Louis CK show and be offended because he speaks of drugs and masturbation.
Dave McClure attends conferences where you don't even know he's going to be there. Doesn't mean you can remove responsibility from McClure and call him out on his behavior.
<p>That's an interesting opinion. Why is Dave worse than you? He at least doesn't hide his name calling on an anonymous site.</p>
<p>Chill</p>
I'm @glehel and posted the comment and the link to my blog to which someone replied,
"April 4, 2014 at 1:08 pm
That’s the biggest bullshit I have ever heart. To free him from any personal responsibility with this explanation is just douchebaggy."
We have different opinions and while I believe yours is naive, I will not resort to name calling and disrespect and won't hide my differing believe behind an anonymous posting.
"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
it was a stupid and insensitive thing for me to say, and i apologized to both the woman in question as well as the the general public that day on twitter and other social media.
while i do think she wasn't being honest or accurate about her iphone battery life not being a problem, my verbal reaction and choice of words was hurtful, and hugely disrespectful of her gender and person.
it was unnecessary and i regretted it, both then and now.
while i am often profane and bombastic on stage and in person (& i don't intend to stop doing any of that), that is no excuse for hurting someone and/or causing them to feel bad.
hopefully i can avoid being such an insensitive prick and giant douchebag in the future... or at the very least, less of one.
Dave McClure
Nice, thoutful response Dave.. as usual.
Glen
Dave, it isn't so much about your reaction, I acknowledge your apology and your stance on the situation and you seem sincere and your actions speak that you are taking steps to change which is good.
What I was highlighting was the different standards men and women are held up to in the tech community.
I was highlighting that if she had reacted that way or taking any other situation where a woman stands up to disrespect or sexism she will experience far greater ostracism and consequences and terror to the same behavior.
And to all the people here calling other people out for staying anonymous, well, isn't this the purpose of the page? You're so much more of a better person for calling me out on that, yes yes you are. But you obviously don't understand the reason why people choose to do that.
I'd rather be anonymous than receive death threats and be ostracized and sabotaged any further any day and this doesn't make my initial post any less valid or any lesser person than you.
So take your condecension and stick it to where the sun don't shine.
I challenge you to be pretend to be a woman on social media for a while while sticking up for the right thing and saying what others don't want to hear and I dare you to not find jokes about sexism in tech funny and speak about it.
So when you receive your first couple of death threats, threats of being beaten up, rape threats, called whore, and someone grabs your junk on a conference without your consent, and you start to be sabotaged with financial effects on your life- then we'll speak again- but probably we won't, because then you'd understand and would be able to empathize. And you'll feel dumfounded. And that's when change happens.
LOL! Death threats? Really? You must think there's some kind of conspiracy by men to impede women from advancing. Maybe if you focus your resentment into doing a good job, you will become somehow successful and far less bitter and paranoid.
Why are we dragging this issue out again?? It happened a long time ago, he apologized, lets move on.
actually, it was less than a year ago, and it isn't such an easily forgivable offense.
DMC
With Dave you know what you are going to get ahead of time, if you are surprised, you have not done your homework or paid attention.
I have no desire for Dave to pretend to be someone else or any other human. The ones that are very good at blending in and being good to everyone are usually the sociopaths that take your equity just when you are vulnerable.
@kaffegeek
Ps, hey Dana, we need a toggle 4 when we wanna be "not-anon"
It is me. And I Rock.
I am rich. I am the McClure.
I own you.