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A San Francisco tech CEO says he was ousted because he used LSD before a big investors' meeting

banksy212

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A report by Bloomberg Businessweek says that the idiosyncratic CEO of a San Francisco startup was ousted due to his use of LSD in the workplace.

Justin Zhu, a co-founder and the former CEO of the email marketing firm Iterable, confirmed to Businessweek that the incident did, in fact, happen. He attempted to take a small dose of the hallucinogenic — known in some circles as microdosing — before a key investors’ meeting in 2019.

It didn’t work out. He said that he saw “numbers and images swelling and shrinking on the screen” and that his body felt like it was melting.

Quirks that are now commonplace in tech culture — casual attire during fancy meetings, drug use in the name of bolstering productivity and grandstanding, conceptual thinkers — ended up becoming a thorn in Iterable's side, per the Businessweek report, despite the company being valued at a couple billion dollars.

Zhu wore cargo shorts to a meeting with a VC firm called Geodesic, a blunder that he says resulted in the firm not investing in Iterable. Another awkward investor meeting drew comparisons to Adam Neumann, the embattled WeWork CEO who had a penchant for lofty, sometimes pretentious conversations.

At one point, Zhu told Businessweek that he believed that he was ousted as CEO because he wasn’t white. He needed to run meetings with “more presence," he claimed an investor told him. (His co founder is asian, that co founder will later replace him as ceo).


I run the company with Eastern values,” he told Bloomberg. “That doesn’t mean I’m not equipped to be CEO.”

But Zhu's removal from the position may have come down to his outspoken willingness to talk to media, even against other company leaders’ wishes. He did so, he claimed, to "help founders who are suffering."

While he’s no longer listed as CEO on the company site, a press kit available for download still lists Zhu as CEO — and his image looms large in the company’s history shared on its website.

Iterable representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment from SFGATE.
 

passion4posh

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Was it the LSD that caused him to wear cargo shorts that got him ousted OR the stupidity of admitting to use of hallucinogens in the workplace?
 

Jessica Pearson

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I read more about this on Bloomberg, and apparently he was having a lot of conflict with key investors. It escalated to the point that his company, Iterable, either had to let him go or lose investors.
 

Adela

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Ya don't say? Who knew showing up to a work meeting high on drugs would count against you?

Seriously though, I live in San Francisco and these over privileged tech boys are just so. fµck!ng. tiresome. Steeped in privilege, ignorant of how other people live. That privilege is what makes them think they can show up to a work meeting high on drugs. They could all disappear tomorrow and nothing of value would be lost.
 

LalaSharp

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If the CEO came to a key meeting drunk off his azz that, alone, would be justification for removing him.

I took 1 of those little squares in college. It was fine because it was a beautiful sunny day with a bunch of hippies and I had a good guide but the street came up to talk to me and the spaghetti was dancing in the cafeteria. I never did it again because I didn't want to find out what it would be like to have a bad trip.
 

You

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So, he dressed unprofessionally at meetings with potential clients/investors, went rogue against what other leadership wanted him to do, wouldn't shut up/kept chatting with the media, and did drugs on company time

But, it's his race, though

:expressionless:
 

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I read more about this on Bloomberg, and apparently he was having a lot of conflict with key investors. It escalated to the point that his company, Iterable, either had to let him go or lose investors.
I remember this and his outspokeness. He was quite undiplomatic in his comments as well.
 

MizzSuga

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I read the story about him a couple of weeks ago. He’s basically an idiot that was was doing too much to the point he got himself ousted.
 

teecoilee

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Was that his first time mocrodosing LSD? LOL Helluva time to decide to try that. Sounds like there were other issues and that was the state that broke the camel’s back.
 

anaisnin

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Typical young and up his own ass tech guy who thinks because he’s a cofounder that he’s untouchable.
 

David Aventura

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I couldn't imagine having to work with people like him. It literally must be hell in some of those places. You are not only dealing with racism, but this crazy stuff as well.
 

TheRealNikkiO

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Tech bros are a PR teams’ worst nightmare. These high-functioning autistic males and females are wild.
 

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