In March 2013 a YC startup called Virool had a launch party which featured go-go dancers performing in front of a screen full of numbers and a bunch of women in lingerie and lab coats. When even TechCrunch calls you the "douchpocalypse" maybe it is time to rethink your company's image...
- "But seriously, half-naked girls in silver mono-kinis dancing in front of floating arithmetic, fractions and percentage signs? Why would women want to work for this company?"
The company responded with a non-apology, saying that: the party was based on the theme of one of their videos; the party made money; their investors were happy; and the party was planned by a woman.
Commenter Lana L. added,
- "You can celebrate your success with your friends at the club and pop a bottle with the female dancers there if you want in your own time but everyone in tech has a responsibility to make it a place where women aren't ostracized, alienated, and made to feel uncomfortable. Otherwise good luck hiring good technical people if women keep leaving and not participating in the industry. Gogo dancers and shot girls in lingerie at a launch party, for a tech startup that has little to do with these things, is counterproductive to these goals and responsibilities. If I was invited to the party as a female dev, I would have felt uncomfortable."
The Tumblr site [Being a female software engineer] made fun of the incident.
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