Zero Tolerance

Lets stand togather against people who have been misbehaving women. We all would not want this kind of language and pervertish behavior to be used with our sisters, daughters or wife’s and hence the boycott.

Fight Against Sexual Harassment

The year is 2017. Startup Ecosystem is thought to be a progressive and open platform for every entrepreneur dreaming of making a dent in the universe. Yet, ironically, we start the new year with a campaign to Fight Against Sexual Harassment, in the Startup Ecosystem.

Every industry has an unbalanced power equation. Boss/Employee, Client/Vendor, and in the startup ecosystem, Investor/Entrepreneur. It is this power equation that is being blatantly abused by a few, reducing aspiring Entrepreneurs to sexual objects, and moving the clock back 50 years on equality.

This campaign and fight is against the sexual harassment and advances made by Mahesh Murthy (MM). MM is an angel investor and a VC Partner at Seedfund. He is an invited guest speaker by many startup events and his strong opinions on Startups and the industry appear in various media.

Through his appearances and writing, MM has amassed significant social clout, influence and authority over founders, aspiring entrepreneurs and employees in startups. He is looked up to and is often approached by founders and startups for advice, mentorship, and funding.

Normally, what someone does in their personal life would not be our problem. But when MM uses his professional influence and power to harass unsuspecting victims who are on the other side of the power equation, we have to rise to take a stand. We have to show ZERO TOLERANCE to such behaviour, and have a startup ecosystem that is welcoming and supportive to all entrepreneurs.

Why are all women not coming out?

We still live in a difficult society. Women founders have a lot to fight against. Pressure from family, society, colleagues, apart from the pressure of building a startup. In such a scenario, they have learned to ignore, block and move on. As it is easier to block and forget, than to fight out against so many different forces out there. Everyone out there is out to judge, pass comments and question the legitimacy of the incident.

Secondly, not every incident has proofs. Some are made over a call. Some over discussion during an event. How do you backup your points? There are going to be questions. And he easily has the excuse, that he was approached for funding, and when he said no, he is being made a victim.

Thirdly, the power equation. In the matter of investors vs entrepreneurs, the power equation is tilted towards the investors. If one investor speaks badly about you, many other investors shy away from investing in your company. Hence, it becomes very hard to expose such a behaviour.

So what can be done?

The question to ask is, Does such a person deserve to stay and be active in the startup ecosystem? Why is he still being invited to speaking engagements, media opinions, and articles? In doing so, are we not abetting and helping him continue such activities?

As community and startup ecosystem we want to see Zero Tolerance to Sexual Harassment. We urge you to join us in this fight against sexual harassment by taking the following pledge. Share this pledge on social media to encourage others to take the pledge too.

Take a pledge:

I, ……………………, take a pledge, not to associate with Mahesh Murthy in any manner, not to invest along with him, nor work in companies funded by him, nor raise money from him, nor attend events where he has been invited as a speaker, nor read or share article written by him, or having a quote from him.

I also take a pledge to have ZERO TOLERANCE towards sexual misbehaviour, and create a welcoming, supportive startup ecosystem for all entrepreneurs.

Additionally, I also take a pledge, to spread this message and encourage everyone who cares about women entrepreneurship and/or wants to fight against sexual harassment on women.

Additionally, I would request the media, blogs and events to remove any past reference of Mahesh Murthy from their website.

Name: Email: Phone:

( A copy of this pledge will be sent to your email id.)

Been affected by MM or anyone else whose behaviour goes beyond ZERO TOLERANCE? Send an email to __ with evidence.