Hyperloop One co-founder and early Uber investor Shervin Pishevar has announced his resignation from Sherpa Capital, the venture capital firm he co-founded, following sexual misconduct allegations.
“I have decided on my own accord to end my association with Sherpa Capital, effective immediately,” Pishevar tweeted, as part of a lengthy statement.
I have only admiration and affection for the people of Sherpa Capital, including my co-founder Scott Stanford. I’m proud of the work we’ve done to advance great ideas and support great founders since co-founding Sherpa Capital five years ago.
Unfortunately, it is no surprise that the untruthful attacks by those seeking to harm me and my family, including those willing to go so far as fabricating police reports, have continued unabated even after I announced my leave of absence from Sherpa. My truculent opponents are out to settle scores that have nothing to do with Sherpa, and I refuse to allow my enemies to drag my Sherpa family into their fight with me.
That is why I have decided on my own accord to end my association with Sherpa Capital, effective immediately. I plan to focus now on the appropriate ongoing legal actions against those who are unjustly orchestrating the smear campaign against me. I know the great team at Sherpa Capital will continue to rise and scale new heights.
For my part, I continue to follow the wisdom of one of my favorite poems, “If”, by Rudyard Kipling: “If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; . . . Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating…”
TechCrunch has obtained the letter he sent to Sherpa Capital’s limited partner investors, which included the above statement (minus the poem), but also:
Since co-founding Sherpa Capital in 2013, we have been committed to building a culture of respect, integrity and service to our founders, team and Limited Partners.
I care deeply about the long term success of the firm and believe my decision to resign is the best decision in the interests of the Sherpa Capital family of team members, founders and LPs. We have a great portfolio of investments and a world class team at Sherpa supporting them. Scott Stanford is one of the legends in venture capital and I have the utmost admiration and respect and faith in his ability to continue to build Sherpa Capital into a world class venture capital firm.
I thank all of you, Sherpa’s Limited Partners, who have believed in our team from 2013. And I thank you for your patience and understanding and grace you have shown to Sherpa Capital as we have weathered these recent turbulent waters.
This was a decision I came to and proposed on my own accord. It is not one I took lightly and it was a difficult decision that was guided by Sherpa Capital and my family’s abiding belief in service and putting others before ourselves.
If I or any Sherpa Capital team member can answer any questions please do not hesitate to ask. If you need to reach me at all my personal email is [redacted] and my cell is [redacted].
Pishevar had recently taken a leave of absence at Sherpa. He also stepped down from the board at Hyperloop One.
He’s one of many high-profile men to leave their jobs recently, amid a cultural shift where more women are coming forward alleging sexual harassment.
Other recent departures in the venture capital industry include Justin Caldbeck from Binary Capital and Dave McClure from 500 Startups.
In Pishevar’s case, he seemingly attempted to pre-empt the allegations, by filing a lawsuit. The lawsuit accused a GOP research firm, Definers, of spreading the rumors, which the group denies.
Bloomberg still wrote a story detailing allegations, but kept its sources anonymous because the women were said to be deterred from speaking on the record. “Pishevar’s legal actions had an impact. Some of the women who shared allegations of Pishevar’s misbehavior with Bloomberg had originally agreed to be identified by name. After his lawsuit, they withdrew their names, citing the legal risks of speaking out.”
One women spoke on the record to Axios about her allegations.
A spokesperson for Sherpa Capital provided the following statement.
Today, Shervin announced his voluntary resignation from Sherpa Capital, effective immediately. We thank Shervin for his contributions and service in co-founding Sherpa Capital. The Sherpa team remains focused on supporting our founders and portfolio companies, serving the interests of our Limited Partners across all of our funds. We are deeply committed to our culture of integrity, inclusion, and respect and will continue to put these values into action through all of Sherpa Capital’s activities, including the founders and companies we support.
It’s unclear what’s next for Sherpa Capital, but Scott Stanford, formerly of Goldman Sachs, is the other co-founder and appears to still be involved. Some of Sherpa Capital’s other portfolio companies include Airbnb, Munchery, Slack, Shyp and Robinhood.
At some venture funds there’s something called a “key man” clause, where LP investment is contingent on a particular person remaining involved. We don’t know whether that’s the case with Pishevar.
We’ll update the story as we learn more.
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