Billionaire investor Vinod Khosla gives a disastrous interview at Disrupt and bashes journalist repeatedly on stage
Business Insider first published a story in early August in which former employees alleged bad ethics and a lack of science at the egg-replacement startup. After the CEO Josh Tetrick had an affair with an employee, text messages viewed by Business Insider showed he was worried about what Khosla would do if he found out.
"Khosla would hang me - it is a huge lawsuit" Tetrick wrote in 2013.
Later in August, the FDA sent a warning letter to the company because its Just Mayo product does not meet the federal regulation of mayonnaise. The startup then published emails showing a conspiracy between members of the egg industry to bring the Hampton Creek down.
TechCrunch wrote its own story with several lingering questions for the startup, and on-stage at TechCrunch Disrupt, senior editor Jon Shieber tried to ask its main investor Vinod Khosla about what's happening at the company.
Khosla did not take that well, and summarily began to belittle journalists while insisting he did not want to talk about food:
With the Hampton Creek discussion tabled, Shieber moved on to asking about whether entrepreneurs should still turn to venture capitalists these days. It's an important question, Khosla noted, before embarking on a tirade that went downhill from there: