Startup owners need to be accountable for what they say on social media

I guess I should warn you that this is a rant more than an article.

Let me walk you through what set me off.

A disturbing and tragic topic went viral on LinkedIn especially with the Indian community. A bullied tech worker publicly shared his devastating divorce story and took the final step.

The story became a significant talking point for weeks as it should have been.

Cue one startup owner who went on to create a list of the type of women men should be wary of.

This included women over 35, divorced women, single mothers, women who were brash, and you can imagine the rest.

This man was the CEO and founder of a startup - his title proudly declared it and his arrogance at declaring entire segments of women as dangerous, evil, and to-be-avoided at all costs came from a very specific genre of "founders" who think they're the be-all and end-all of all things wise because someone had the misjudgment to give them funding.

I'm an older women and a single mother. I've dealt with worse than a few degrading lines from a random wanna-be innovator on social media.

I had a few words with him. I called out his bigotry which infuriated him. "Don't resort to name-calling", he declared. Funnily, enough, I didn't call him a bigot but said his beliefs were such.

I knew that at the end of the day what I said would fall on deaf ears - his anyway.

What I did care about was that there would be hundreds of young women without experience positively chilled at the display of cruelty and malice portrayed by this man.

After all, he was a CEO. He was a founder. He got funding and someone believed in him to invest in his company.

His words had weight and the young women reading his words would be tunnelling themselves into a hole should they ever deal with the misfortune of their life turning sour.

That's why I had to speak. That's why I had to leave comments in response to him. So that the women reading them would see a rational refutation of someone who could be perceived as an authority figure.

Startup owners have a large following of impressionable people listening to their every word. First, be rational and ethical and use the reasoning skills you must apply to your work to how you analyze real-life topics.

Second, in situations where you cannot have direct living experiences, give the floor to other people.

Third, you are not living in a bubble anymore. People like me are out there, ready to bring the receipts and we're not letting you say anything you want without being accountable for it.

You can drive change or be the lynchpin for irrational fear. But you'll only build a sustainable business if you're in the right headspace. Learn, think, and speak with care.