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In an attempt at damage ascendancy , the CEO of the equity management startupCarta , Henry Ward , today emailed customers , tell apart them that if they are concerned about “ negative military press ” tied to the turnout , they should read a Medium berth of his .
The move come out only to call more care to the many reported job plague the 11 - year - old fellowship .
Some of the customers say they had n’t seen the disconfirming press until Ward called attention to it , according topostson social program X.
OneX userwrote : “ Cringe . They ’re leave that it ’s not a big stack unless you make it a large deal . ” Anotherwrote : “ This is literally the first i ve heard about minus Carta press but I m in spades not going to just ‘ ignore it ’ now ha . ” Still one other userposted : “ i finger like this is terrible comms work , do nt draw unnecessary attention to it for the bulk of ppl who prolly never saw anything anyway if it does nt straight bear on me i probably do nt give af . ”
An investor in Carta — which was most latterly assigned a post - money evaluation of$7.4 billionin 2021 when it last raised an institutional round of support — called Ward ’s decision “ weird . ” suppose this individual , who also seemed incognizant of the some of the negative pressing that has steep Carta , including an October 24 firearm published byInsider , andOctober 4andOctober 16 piecespublished by Fortune : “ 90 % of your customers really do n’t think about you everyday . . .This might have been a scrap of founder navel stare , like , ‘ Everybody must be consider about me all the time , ’ but most customers of any product have their own job to do . If your product is delivering note value , they ’re not move to conceive about it too much . ”
In theMedium post , which Ward published five day ago , he outlines conversations he has had with Carta employees about legion stories about the companionship , include , most latterly , tied to lawsuits aroundallegations of sexual abuseon the part of executives , a toxic “ boy ’s club acculturation , ” and indecent exposure , among other things .
In his C. W. Post , Ward suggests that he ’s the fair game of challenging reporters bent on on building their careers by exposing companies for “ unsound demeanour . ” The postal service is a public service , in a sense , publish Ward . “ I recognise other chief operating officer have to sell with this so I need to share what I shared with employees in font it ’s helpful for other CEOs intend through similar problems . ”
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He start on to delve into the many accusations about Carta while also seemingly confirming them . He says , for example , that Carta has “ all-inclusive software documentation ” that former CTO Jerry Talton “ was inappropriate with women and shout his place . ” Ward adds : “ It also turn out , we find out after he left , thathe is a misogynist and a racialist . ” Ward also account have extensive documentation that [ former Chief Product Officer ] Heidi Johnson “ was a yobo , had the low director favourable reception rating , and misused corporate pecuniary resource for personal utilisation . ”
Ward tot up in the mail service : “ We fuel both of them . That ’s what the press scram wrong . Our mistake was n’t discharge them . Our misapprehension was employ them . ”
This year start out on a sour note for Carta , whose core byplay is selling software to investor to traverse their portfolio and thathas raised over $ 1 billion from investors such as Spark Capital , Andreessen Horowitz , and Union Square Ventures . In January , TechCrunch reported that Carta wassuing its former CTO , Jerry Talton . The company state Talton was give the sack “ for causal agency ” on December 23 .
In itslawsuit , Carta say it was suing Talton for damages , reference “ his wrongful and illegal act as an administrator of Carta ” and suggesting he fail the company despite being given a role that came with “ hundreds of thousands of dollars in earnings and benefits , and satisfying equity awarding . ”
It was not the first instance of Carta becoming entangled in a lawsuit . In 2020 , the caller ’s former VP of marketingsuedCarta , accusing the outfit of gender discrimination , retaliation , unlawful termination and of violating the California Equal Pay Act . ( We feature that casehere . ) Soon after , four employee verbalise on the record with The New York Times , tell the electrical outlet that when they voiced concerns about the way the society is run , they weresidelined , break or give pay swing .
The company has also been accused of pitiable customer service . TechCrunch this year interviewed numerous Carta customer who expressed dissatisfaction with the company and its congressman . One , a fund manager who is in the midst of transition off the platform currently , distinguish TC that his team had “ four unlike account managers in the less than a two - year participation at Carta ; it sure as shooting did n’t help with persistence and sympathy of our fund and need . ”
A separate fund manager who TC interview complained of a “ want of communicating internally , ” say that it ’s “ like working with four avail provider . ” Carta will “ expect you for a document that they have on file and should know that they have on file , ” she tell . “ I should n’t have to keep cart track ; that ’s why I ’m paying for fund administration . They ’ll tell you to check out ‘ the hepatic portal vein ’ and the portal is direful . ”
matter only got more tumultuous for the company as the yr go on .
In August , Alexandra Rogers , a former cut-rate sale manager , filed a lawsuit against Carta after alleging she was revenge against by Ward after filing torment title against Carta ’s revenue officer , Jeff Perry — harmonise to reporting byFortune .
Earlier this week , Insiderreportedthat lawcourt documents , complaints file with the EEOC and the California Civil Rights Department , and interviews with more than a twelve current and former employees paint a picture of “ a company fraught with harassment and discrimination , a fast - and - loose approach to deference , and a culture of right-down fealty to an erratic and vengeful CEO . ”
TechCrunch has strive out to Carta for scuttlebutt , and had not received a response at the time of issue .
Got a news peak or inside information about a topic we cover ? We ’d get laid to hear from you . you may arrive at out at maryann@techcrunch.com . Or you may omit us a tone at tips@techcrunch.com . Happy to respect namelessness requests .
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