Sexual harassment and gender discrimination lawsuits are rare in the tightly knit, still male-dominated world of venture capital and startups—a world where nondisclosure agreements or non-disparagement clauses are prevalent and settlements typically precede public accusations. They’re not so rare anymore at equity management startup Carta.
Since 2020, Carta—a venture capital darling last valued at $7.4 billion two years ago that is backed by a16z, Silver Lake Partners, and Lightspeed Venture Partners—has had three women file gender-related lawsuits against the company, as of this summer. Another woman published an essay on Medium in 2020, laying out alleged grievances against the company. (Carta, its CEO Henry Ward, and CRO declined to comment on the record. In court filings, they have vehemently denied all allegations against them.)
Behind the scenes, Carta’s former CTO sent Carta’s eight board members, including a16z’s Marc Andreessen and Ward, a letter last year, laying out what he said were serious, systemic problems within the company and stating that he believed complaints of discriminatory or abusive behavior were not being adequately investigated. That prompted a board investigation this time last year.
I spoke with eight former and current employees, investors, and people close to the company or board, as well as reviewed hundreds of pages of legal filings, attorney correspondence, and correspondence to the board to detail how a by-the-book startup success story has evolved into a nightmarish collision of litigation, high turnover, and mounting employee grievances against management.
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