Since he stepped down amid damning sexual harassment allegations this summer, former Binary Capital partner Justin Caldbeck anointed himself “head of self-reflection, accountability, and change,” in what was apparently not a joke. Months later, it appears he has distilled those lessons into a presentation that he hopes will “educate young men about the dangers of ‘bro culture’ in the workplace.” Here’s more from Bloomberg:
He plans to release a website on the topic soon, and on Thursday, he delivered a 51-slide presentation to 50 students in a finance class at Duke University, his alma mater. He said he wasn’t paid and that he hopes to speak at other colleges. His goal, he said, is to “create positive change for women by educating young men about how to be better in the workforce.”
Putting aside the incredibly tone-deaf timing of the plan, Caldbeck seems more intent on reviving his career than effecting real change. His one-man show smacks of crisis management, and its thesis appears to be that Caldbeck wasn’t aware of how his actions—learned behavior from his college and business school, he says—would translate in the workplace.
But does any of this even matter? Caldbeck is doing just fine. Some of his portfolio companies still consult with him, according to Bloomberg, and he remains a co-owner of Binary; Caldbeck will also continue to profit off the startups he shepherded through Binary and Lightspeed Ventures before that. (That includes e-commerce startup Stitch Fix, which is about to go public.) I’m not sure we need to believe Caldbeck has reformed for him to successfully stage a comeback—if we can even call it that.
At the moment, Caldbeck says he’s penning apologies to all the women he’s wronged, including some who didn’t go on the record. “If I’m honest with myself, I made more mistakes than the ones that were reported,” he told Bloomberg. Now that I believe.
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.
