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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Silicon Valley billionaire <keyword id="12594026" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="michael-goguen" source="Orion">Michael Goguen</keyword> is suing the <keyword id="11909206" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="new-york-post" source="Orion">New York Post</keyword> for defamation.</li><li>The Post ran a <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/11/20/billionaire-michael-goguen-allegedly-kept-spreadsheet-of-5000-sex-partners/">story</a> about a recent legal complaint filed against Goguen.</li></ul><p>Silicon Valley billionaire Michael Goguen filed a <keyword id="11921506" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="lawsuit" source="Orion">lawsuit</keyword> against the New York Post Friday, accusing the publication of defamation. The Post recently published a story based on a lawsuit accusing Goguen of running a "harem" of women and scheming to kill the people who stood against him.</p><p>"The article falsely and outrageously states that Plaintiff has engaged in widespread criminal misconduct and sexual abuse, that Plaintiff turned <keyword id="12594025" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="whitefish" source="Orion">Whitefish</keyword>, <keyword id="12024547" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="montana" source="Orion">Montana</keyword>, into a 'personal fiefdom' and 'banana republic' where he 'controls' <keyword id="11899820" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="law" source="Orion">law</keyword> enforcement, and that Plaintiff is another Harvey Weinstein (a convicted serial rapist) and Jeffrey Epstein (the deceased pedophile) — two of the most reviled men in American history," the new lawsuit says.</p><p>"The truth is that Mr. Goguen has been the target of unscrupulous characters and, in connection with the federal prosecution of Matthew Marshall in which Mr. Goguen was the victim and the Government's primary witness, the FBI and United States Attorney's Office have found every claim of substantial wrongdoing about Mr. Goguen to be false."</p><p>The <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/11/20/billionaire-michael-goguen-allegedly-kept-spreadsheet-of-5000-sex-partners/">Post story, published on November 20,</a> was primarily based on allegations contained in a lawsuit by Matthew Marshall, a former US State Department official who led security operations for Goguen. In the defamation lawsuit, Goguen and his team are asking for a retraction and over $500 million in damages.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-goguen-accuses-new-york-post-defamation-2021-11">lawsuit alleged</a> that the 57-year-old billionaire roped Marshall into schemes to hide affairs from his wife, kept a spreadsheet of about 5,000 women with whom he had sex, and repeatedly asked or suggested that Marshall kill people who threatened to expose Goguen's lifestyle.</p><p>The lawsuit described Goguen's activity as a sex-trafficking operation that recruited, transported, and paid off women for sex, and alleged he used his wealth and influence to silence people in the small town of Whitefish who have accused him of wrongdoing.</p><p>Attorneys for Goguen sent a letter to the Post on Sunday demanding a correction and apology for the story, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-goguen-accuses-new-york-post-defamation-2021-11">Insider previously reported</a>. Representatives for the Post didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Goguen's defamation lawsuit.</p><p>Marshall — along with John Maguire, Keegan Bonnet, and Anthony Aguilar, three other ex-employees of Goguen — first filed the lawsuit in February, and revised it significantly in September. Goguen filed a motion to dismiss it earlier this year, arguing his former employees didn't have the standing to bring the lawsuit and failed to describe a pattern of illegal activity.</p><p>Marshall <a href="https://flatheadbeacon.com/2021/11/05/whitefish-security-ceo-set-to-plead-guilty-in-scheme-to-defraud-goguen/">pleaded guilty earlier this year</a> to federal criminal charges of tax evasion and defrauding Goguen. A spokesperson for Goguen accused Marshall of bringing the civil lawsuit in the hopes that it would help him with his criminal case. Goguen's attorneys said in the letter sent to the Post that the other plaintiffs are Marshall's former partner, a cousin, and a man who participated in an alleged money laundering scheme with Marshall. </p><p>Attorneys for Marshall, Maguire, Bonnet, and Aguilar didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.</p><p>Goguen's lawsuit was also filed against Post reporter Isabel Vincent, who the billionaire's team alleged didn't give them enough time to respond to her questions for the story. The lawsuit alleges the Post "had no interest in the truth and did not reasonably investigate the facts prior to publication. They took none of these steps. Instead, they acted maliciously."</p><p>The suit also named Bill Dial, the former Whitefish police chief, as a plaintiff. The Post story quotes Dial as comparing Goguen to Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein. Dial resigned from the position in August <a href="https://dailyinterlake.com/news/2021/sep/02/former-whitefish-police-chief-responds-corruption-/">amid professional misconduct allegations</a> in connection with Marshall and <a href="https://whitefishpilot.com/news/2021/sep/02/three-whitefish-men-involved-lawsuits/">is involved in his own civil litigation against Goguen</a>. Dial told Insider that he considered the defamation suit against him "frivolous" and said the allegations contained within are "false." He also disputed the account that he resigned, saying that he retired and  "did not know about the allegations that Goguen et al had filed against me with our licensing agency until two weeks after I retired."</p><p>"Because of his money, a lot of people are intimidated by him, but I'm not," Dial said. "If he did nothing wrong, then he has nothing to worry about." </p><p>Read Goguen's entire lawsuit against the New York Post here:</p>

Silicon Valley billionaire sues New York Post for defamation over allegations that he kept a spreadsheet of 5,000 women he had sex with

<ul class="summary-list"><li><strong><keyword id="12594026" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="michael-goguen" source="Orion">Michael Goguen</keyword> is accusing the New York Post of defamation after the tabloid <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/11/20/billionaire-michael-goguen-allegedly-kept-spreadsheet-of-5000-sex-partners/">reported</a> on a lawsuit filed against him.</strong></li><li><strong>The tech billionaire was a former partner at venture capital firm <keyword id="11904329" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sequoia-capital" source="Orion">Sequoia Capital</keyword>.</strong></li></ul><p>Tech billionaire Michael Goguen is accusing the New York Post of defamation after the newspaper ran a story about a lawsuit that alleges Goguen used his fortune to run an illegal enterprise that recruits, transports, and pays off women for sex. </p><p>Insider has viewed a copy of a letter that a representative for Goguen sent to the Post, which <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/11/20/billionaire-michael-goguen-allegedly-kept-spreadsheet-of-5000-sex-partners/">reported on the lawsuit Saturday</a> in an article by staffer Isabel Vincent.</p><p>"Ms. Vincent and the Post either knew the statements in the article were false, or acted with a reckless disregard as to their truth," reads the letter from Bruce E. Van Dalsem, an attorney representing Goguen.</p><p>Goguen's attorneys sought to dismiss the lawsuit, which was first filed in February, in June, claiming the plaintiffs didn't have standing to bring the lawsuit and failed to describe a pattern of illegal activity.</p><p>Four ex-employees of Goguen's — Matthew Marshall, John Maguire, Keegan Bonnet, and Anthony Aguilar — filed a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21115672-marshall-v-goguen-september-amended-complaint">significantly amended version of the lawsuit in September.</a> In it, they allege that the 57-year-old billionaire used his wealth and influence to run a sex trafficking operation in <keyword id="12594025" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="whitefish" source="Orion">Whitefish</keyword>, <keyword id="12024547" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="montana" source="Orion">Montana</keyword>, a town of just over 7,700 nestled in the Rocky Mountains.</p><p>According to the amended complaint, Goguen had an "extramarital sex life involving tens of women at any given time, which Goguen referred to as 'the harem,'" and made Marshall his fixer. Goguen frequently sent Marshall graphic photos and descriptions of his sexual encounters, and showed him a spreadsheet of around 5,000 women he had sex with, the lawsuit alleges.</p><p>The billionaire paid women to "have sex with him, to perform other deviant sexual acts with him," and had sex with one acquaintance's wife and 16-year-old babysitter, the lawsuit alleges. When people who learned of Goguen's lifestyle threatened to expose it, the lawsuit alleges he tried to have them killed.</p><p>But Goguen alleges Marshall may have an ulterior motive for throwing accusations his way. According to a November 5 article from the <a href="https://flatheadbeacon.com/2021/11/05/whitefish-security-ceo-set-to-plead-guilty-in-scheme-to-defraud-goguen/">Flathead Beacon</a>, Marshall struck a deal to plead guilty to federal charges of tax evasion and defrauding Goguen. Marshall is scheduled to be sentenced in March 2022.</p><p>In a statement to Insider, a spokesperson for Goguen accused Marshall of filing the lawsuit in the hope that it would help him with his criminal case, prior to his plea deal. Goguen's attorneys said in the letter sent to the Post that the other plaintiffs are Marshall's former partner, a cousin, and a man who participated in an alleged money laundering scheme with Marshall. </p><p>In <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/11/21/michael-goguen-fires-back-at-bombshell-allegations/">a separate statement to the Post</a>, Goguen called the claims "ridiculous and defamatory," noting that Marshall was a "recently convicted felon" seeking "to cause my family and I as much damage as possible before his upcoming sentencing."</p><p>"It's hard to believe that we're at a time in society when disgusting nonsense like this — crafted from the evil and twisted imaginations of a convicted felon to openly and publicly retaliate against his victim — is given the same weight by the media as the fact and evidence-based conclusions reached by the FBI and the criminal justice system," Goguen said.</p><p>An attorney for the Post didn't respond to Insider's request for comment on Monday.</p><h2>Goguen tasked his head of security with paying off women, the lawsuit alleges </h2><p>Marshall, an alumnus of the State Department, began working for Goguen in 2013 to oversee private security operations.</p><p>Over time, the lawsuit claims, Goguen made Marshall his right-hand man by installing him as vice president or a trustee of various legal entities.</p><p>Goguen also tasked Marshall with paying off women and property expenses so that his then-wife wouldn't find out about his affairs, the lawsuit alleges.</p><p>"At Goguen's direction, Marshall was being asked to purchase, out of his personal accounts, vehicles, jewelry, earnest money deposits on properties, and to provide cash or other items for Goguen's mistresses, or as hush-money payoffs," the lawsuit alleges.</p><p>Goguen also asked Marshall to take care of the women in his "harem" in other ways, according to the amended complaint.</p><p>On one occasion, Goguen asked Marshall to fly to Africa to help out two Playboy Playmates on a safari who said they lost their passports, the lawsuit alleges. Marshall declined to fly there, the complaint continues, but used local contacts to help the women out.</p><p>Paying and transporting the women to and from Goguen's properties in the Whitefish area amounted to sex-trafficking, the lawsuit alleges. </p><p>"Goguen would traffic and pay for his harem of women to have sex with him, or to birth illegitimate children with him, often by purchasing for them through means of interstate commerce, cars, houses, and by giving cash or other items of value for these women to be a part of the Goguen Sexual Scheme," the lawsuit says.</p><h2>Goguen is also accused of asking his security chief to kill people who confronted him</h2><p>On several occasions, Goguen suggested or instructed that Marshall kill people who confronted him or otherwise threatened to expose his lifestyle, the lawsuit alleges.</p><p>The first time, according to the complaint, was after Goguen slept with a friend's wife and 16-year-old babysitter. Goguen paid for the friend's wife's legal expenses, which the lawsuit claims made the ensuing divorce "longer and more expensive than it would have been otherwise."</p><p>He also paid for a security team to track the friend's whereabouts and harass him and his children, the lawsuit alleges.</p><div type="image" title="whitefish montana" height="1493" width="1991" msid="87875243" hostid="261"></div><p>The lawsuit alleges that on September 19, 2014, Goguen sent Marshall a message through the encrypted messaging app Wickr, under the alias batman234, where he complains Marshall's efforts hadn't gone far enough.</p><p>"[REDACTED] has pushed me too far and his occasional reminders he might help blow the lid off my personal life requires an extreme response," the message quoted in the lawsuit says. "The cyber route isn't having the impact on him that I was hoping to achieve. Buddy, he's [REDACTED] with my life, career, etc. and the potential for me being destroyed if he gets traction with the authorities or press is significant. This requires an extreme response."</p><p>Goguen then suggested killing the friend, the lawsuit alleges.</p><p>"He will [REDACTED] destroy the 'bigger picture' for us if he's not stopped. He needs to be killed," the message included in the lawsuit says. "I know that's a VERY big ask but we are in defcon 5. We can discuss details in person but we do NOT have conversations about this on our cell phones. Wickr only…"</p><p>Goguen then sent Marshall three of the friend's addresses and told him "that last one is up in Lake Tahoe, which is a lot less populated than his other loc," the lawsuit alleges. He also wanted Marshall to target the friend's phones "for cyber crimes," according to the complaint.</p><p>"Marshall did not follow through on Goguen's solicitation to have [the friend] hacked or murdered at 'a lot less populated' location," according to the complaint. "Marshall explained to Goguen that it 'doesn't work this way' and sought to dissuade Goguen from going to extreme measures against his enemies."</p><p>The lawsuit further alleges that, on one occasion in 2015, Goguen asked Marshall to execute a man whose girlfriend Goguen slept with and who threatened to reveal aspects of the billionaire's lifestyle to his then-wife. And on another occasion later that year, after a hacker Goguen hired refused to surveil and harass his enemies and threatened to call law enforcement, Goguen directed Marshall to "gun him down," according to the complaint.</p><h2><strong>The lawsuit alleges that Goguen used his Silicon Valley fortune to traffic women in Whitefish</strong></h2><p>Goguen is worth around $5 billion, according to <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/11/20/billionaire-michael-goguen-allegedly-kept-spreadsheet-of-5000-sex-partners/">The New York Post.</a> The billionaire seemingly accrued his fortune working at <keyword id="12116150" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sequoia" source="Orion">Sequoia</keyword> Capital, a top technology-focused venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California. In 2012, Goguen told the <a href="https://missoulian.com/business/montana-inbusiness/venture-capitalist-investing-in-montanas-future/article_06a1ceb8-52d1-11e2-8d14-001a4bcf887a.html">Flathead Beacon</a> that he'd been part of the Sequoia Capital team that decided to make early investments in tech giants like Google, Yahoo, and YouTube. A 2014 profile from <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2014/03/26/inside-sequoia-capital-silicon-valleys-innovation-factory/?sh=a3cda243a828">Forbes</a> lists Goguen as one of the top partners at Sequoia. </p><p>He began using some of that money to make a splash in Whitefish and the surrounding region. The <a href="https://missoulian.com/business/montana-inbusiness/venture-capitalist-investing-in-montanas-future/article_06a1ceb8-52d1-11e2-8d14-001a4bcf887a.html">Flathead Beacon</a> reported that Goguen had spent "$10 million in personal funds" to help the region establish a "state trust land plan" resulting in the Whitefish Trail; furnished law enforcement with "state-of-the-art helicopters;" and poured money into local philanthropic causes. Goguen said he was just giving back to the community.</p><p>"I view coming up here as a relief valve," he told the Flathead Beacon. "It's a wonderful counterbalance to my day job."</p><p>Representatives for the city of Whitefish didn't respond to Insider's request for comment on Monday. </p><p>According to the lawsuit, Goguen's vast 3,200-acre estate outside Whitefish includes a 75,000 square-foot house; another 10,000 square-foot lake house; other houses for family members and staff; and a 25,000 square-foot underground bunker designed to withstand nuclear blasts. The lawsuit also alleges Goguen owned "safe houses" in the area where he conducted extramarital affairs with women, including ones he trafficked.</p><p>In the lawsuit, Marshall alleges that Goguen poached him from his job at the US State Department, and that the two men founded the Amyntor Group, a private security business. Marshall's co-plaintiffs, Aguilar, Bonnet, and Maguire, were recruited to work for Amyntor. The lawsuit alleges that when their work relationship soured, Goguen conspired to "falsely accuse Marshall of wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion to the FBI and IRS." </p><p>This isn't the first time that Goguen's sex life and financial dealings have come under scrutiny. In 2016, the billionaire's former mistress, Amber Laurel Baptiste, accused Goguen in a lawsuit of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, as well as human trafficking. According to the recent lawsuit against Goguen, the billionaire had at one point suggested Marshall kill Baptiste as well.</p><p>Baptiste <a href="https://www.insider.com/california-superior-court-sequoia-capital-michael-goguen-extortion-mistress-ruling-2020-1">ultimately lost her lawsuit and was ordered to pay more than $10 million to Goguen</a>, as well as abide by a restraining order. A spokesperson for Goguen said in a statement to Insider that Baptiste is the only person to accuse Goguen of misconduct.</p>

Tech billionaire whose ex-staff allege he kept a 'harem' of women and schemed to kill his critics accuses the New York Post of defamation

<ul class="summary-list"><li> A modest 69-year-old home is up for sale for $1.1 million in Whitefish, Montana. </li><li>A real-estate agent posted a video of the home, and thousands of people left incredulous comments.</li></ul><p><span>A modest Montana house is turning heads not for its grandeur or uniqueness, but for its price tag: $1.1 million.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>The three-bedroom home in Whitefish — a city of about 9,000 people and the gateway to scenic Glacier National Park — doesn't look special. It has white paneling, a two-toned grass lawn, and a fence out back.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>But after </span><a target="_blank" href="https://us.prospects.com/prospects/outside/inscription.do?tok=Z5kbYbSXOUncnHYEUW+cBmj6w2YCi/8pURImnBdm5p8lXtauIlcRJ5wXbeedNl7b9y8dWnqOCGXumzlOgvpjHU99gwJq6pJqC8O2dg9Feo4YZ7TPK0bWpHwNSXTdWnj1lzlZ3q57ExsinBdt550lX8u4dlwWb5wCauqOP1XLpXYPVXDdWnj1kjZUgq9xHVp6hDt25pg+VoL7KFUWJNlcePWXM2rNpXkISkOBGWHnimoLiP4vVh8lnBds7YxqCg%3D%3D"><span>it listed for sale</span></a><span> on February 8, Kirk Rossiter, a real-estate agent in Whitefish, posted </span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C3oLprxvoNW/"><span>a video of the property</span></a><span> — and its comparably outsize price tag — on Instagram. Some 3.2 million views, 33,5000 likes, and 8,214 comments later, some users have expressed disbelief at the listed price of the home relative to its humble appearance while others have debated what secrets could justify its high price tag.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>"Is there $900,000 piled up in the basement?" one commenter wrote. Another said, "Is this satire?"</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a target="_blank" href="http://heatherreddig.com/"><span>Heather Reddig</span></a><span>, an agent from ReMax Home Again Realty representing the home's seller, Gary Hanson, told Business Insider the home's seemingly exorbitant asking price could be chalked up to two factors: its prime location and Hanson's rebellious optimism.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>Whitefish, a hot spot for skiing, hiking, and golf in a landscape of mountains and lakes just an hour south of the Canadian border, is </span><a target="_blank" href="https://a-z-animals.com/articles/the-most-expensive-mountain-towns-in-montana/"><span>one of Montana's priciest areas</span></a><span>. It's attracted wealthy Californians, including the billionaire </span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-billionaire-michael-goguens-wild-life-in-whitefish-montana"><span>Michael Goguen,</span></a><span> formerly of the venture-capital firm Sequoia Capital. As deep-pocketed homebuyers have flooded into town, home prices have shot up, driven by the uptick in </span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbes-global-properties/2023/03/04/demand-for-montana-mountain-real-estate-continues-to-drive-new-development/"><span>luxury real-estate developments</span></a><span>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>Hanson, who inherited the property when his father died last year, wants to take advantage of the demand — hence the $1.1 million asking price.</span></p><p><span>"It's about the 'location, location, location,'" Reddig, the listing broker, said. "That's what he feels the home is worth," adding that "there's a little piece of rebellion" in asking so much</span>.</p><h2><strong>The housing market in Whitefish is booming — but maybe not as much as the seller hopes</strong></h2><p><span>Like numerous </span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/whitefishcitymontana/PST045223"><span>smaller towns</span></a><span> across the US, Whitefish experienced a pandemic-induced homebuying boom.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>The influx of </span><a target="_blank" href="https://dailyinterlake.com/news/2022/aug/19/study-says-whitefish-needs-1000-more-homes-2030/"><span>higher-income urbanites</span></a><span>, attracted by the town's relatively lower-priced homes and outdoor amenities — such as hiking trails and ski mountains — </span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/rural-montana-housing-crisis-supply/674950/#:~:text=The%20glaciers%2C%20the%20pine%20air,tiny%20town's%20tiny%20housing%20market."><span>intensified competition</span></a><span> and drove up housing prices in many neighborhoods.</span></p><p><span>Redfin data shows the median sale price in Whitefish reached $750,000 in January, more than double the median price of $369,990 in January 2020</span>.</p><div type="image" title="The backyard of the Whitefish, Montana home." height="1152" width="1536" msid="108144878" hostid="261"></div><p><span>Reddig said the home, located at 428 O'Brien Avenue, is one of the few older ones remaining on the block.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>Hanson expects new deeper-pocketed residents to splash out on a prime piece of land near Whitefish Lake.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>Reddig said an eventual buyer could tear down the current house and replace it with two new homes.</span></p><p><span>"The town that the owner grew up in has completely changed," Reddig said. "He's like, 'Somebody who has this much money can go and build their high rise right here.'"</span></p><h2>The home apparently has 'treasures' inside from the seller's father, an avid collector who died in 2022</h2><p><span>Though Reddig hasn't yet received any offers for the home, Hanson is considering increasing the property's price.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>"A friend of mine from California said, 'You're too low,'" Hanson told BI. "'Put it up for $2.3 million and it will sell.'"</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>Hanson said he believes the home is worth every penny and has sweetened the deal by including what he called a trove of his father's "treasures" in the sale.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>Though Hanson evaded describing exactly what "treasures" lie within, and there are no interior photos of the house in the listing, he did say his "father collected everything just in case he needed something."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>"The house is stuffed full of stuff," Hanson said. "Someone said, "Boy, you got everything in there but the kitchen sink.' I told him, 'Well, that's in there, too.'"</span></p>

People are incredulous that an ordinary house in rural Montana is on the market for over $1 million

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-03/former-sequoia-partner-wins-extortion-suit-against-ex-mistress">Bloomberg reported Friday</a> that venture capital investor Michael Goguen won a 3-year legal battle against his former mistress Amber Laurel Baptiste in California Superior Court.</li><li>The judge ruled in Goguen's favor and found that Baptiste, a former exotic dancer, committed fraud and extortion.</li><li>Goguen was a partner at <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sequoia-capital-cosplay-job-offer-2019-7">Silicon Valley venture firm Sequoia Capital</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-goguen-leaves-sequoia-capital-following-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-2016-3">when Baptiste initially accused him of withholding $40 million in so-called "hush money" payments</a> in 2016. Goguen left the firm in light of the allegations and has since started his own venture firm in Whitefish, Montana.</li><li>Baptiste has until January 10 to file an appeal, Bloomberg reported.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul><p>One of Silicon Valley's more explosive lawsuits that ended the career of a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sequoia-capital-cosplay-job-offer-2019-7">former partner at Sequoia Capital</a> is winding down with the venture capitalist emerging victorious and vindicated.</p><p>Michael Goguen won a 3-year legal battle against his former mistress Amber Laurel Baptiste in California Superior Court, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-03/former-sequoia-partner-wins-extortion-suit-against-ex-mistress">Bloomberg's Lizette Chapman reported on Friday</a>. The judge in the case ruled in Goguen's favor and found Baptiste, a former exotic dancer, committed fraud and extortion when she threatened to go public with accusations that he had given her a sexually transmitted infection, according to Bloomberg. Baptiste, who was not present for the 3-day trial that wrapped on Dec. 20, has until Jan. 10 to appeal. As part of the ruling, Baptiste was ordered to pay back $10.25 million that Goguen had given her as a portion of a rumored $40 million "hush money payment" he had promised.</p><p>The lawsuit has powered the Silicon Valley rumor mill since 2016, and its effects have followed Goguen to his new home in Whitefish, Montana, he told Bloomberg. He said he struggled to raise funds for his new venture firm because limited partners were conscious of attracting negative press by working with him.</p><p>The initial lawsuit filed by Baptiste was graphic enough to turn away even the least risk averse investors from working with Goguen, even 3 years later. Baptiste accused Goguen of "sexually, physically, and emotionally" abusing her for more than 13 years and then refusing to pay her the $40 million agreed-upon settlement in full. The initial filing claimed Baptiste had been a "victim of human trafficking" since she was 15 years old, and that Goguen met her at a Dallas strip club in 2001 and promised to help her "escape from the human traffickers" if "she would have sex with him." Baptiste claims that Goguen raped and abused her for many years, including an alleged incident where she was left "bleeding and alone on the floor of a hotel room in a foreign country." The signed contract for payment came when Baptiste initially threatened to sue Goguen in 2014, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-goguen-leaves-sequoia-capital-following-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-2016-3">according to a previous Business Insider report</a>.</p><p>Goguen did not return Business Insider's request for comment. He told Bloomberg that the ruling caps off a time in his life where his colleagues treated him "like a leper" and he's become "jaded."  Baptiste could not immediately be reached for comment by Business Insider, but Bloomberg reported that she has previously said Goguen was using his "wealth and power to overwhelm" her. </p><p>Goguen was considered one of the leading investors at Sequoia Capital, having overseen several highly lucrative IPOs and exits from his networking and cybersecurity investments over his 20-year career. The initial lawsuit filed in 2016 came just as the #MeToo movement was gaining traction among the upper echelons of all businesses, and Goguen was quickly dismissed as the lawsuit played out.</p>

A former Sequoia Capital partner has won an extortion case against his former mistress after a 3-year court battle

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Longtime Sequoia Capital venture capitalist&#xa0;Michael Goguen is out of the firm following <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/304104968/Goguen-Baptiste-San-Mateo-Court">an explosive lawsuit</a> that accuses him of "sexually, physically, and emotionally" abusing a woman for over 13 years and then refusing to pay her an agreed upon settlement in full.&#xa0;<p>Goguen, a partner at Sequoia for nearly 20 years, allegedly signed a contract agreeing&#xa0;to pay Amber Laurel Baptiste $40 million to drop a prospective lawsuit against him, but only paid $10 million of that sum, <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/304104968/Goguen-Baptiste-San-Mateo-Court">according to a filing in San Mateo County Superior Court</a>&#xa0;earlier this week (and first&#xa0;<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/11/longtime-vc-michael-goguen-was-just-hit-with-an-explosive-lawsuit/">highlighted by TechCrunch</a>).&#xa0;</p><p>The background of the case is pretty graphic. According to the lawsuit filing, Baptiste&#xa0;had been a "victim of human trafficking" since the age of 15. Goguen met her in 2001&#xa0;and promised to help her "escape from the human traffickers" if "she would have sex with him," the&#xa0;filing&#xa0;claims.&#xa0;Baptiste claims that Goguen raped and abused her over the next few years, then signed the payment agreement under threat of a lawsuit.</p><p>Sequoia Capital tweeted the following statement in regards to Goguen's departure:</p><p><div></div></p><p>You can read the filing here:</p><p class="embed-spacer"><div><p style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;">   <a title="View Goguen/Baptiste San Mateo Court on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/304104968/Goguen-Baptiste-San-Mateo-Court" style="text-decoration: underline;">Goguen/Baptiste San Mateo Court</a> by <a title="View Matthew Panzarino's profile on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/user/69181422/Matthew-Panzarino" style="text-decoration: underline;">Matthew Panzarino</a></p></div></p><p>Calls to Sequoia and Goguen's attorneys were not immediately returned. We will update this story when we hear back.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/art-critic-robot-has-its-own-taste-2016-2">Scientists made a robot art critic that is able to form its own opinions</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="llb3E5MTE6vIJxQ41EH0lLyy4pYkSXu-" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

A longtime VC at Sequoia is out of the firm following an explosive lawsuit

<p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></span>The former partner at elite Silicon Valley VC firm Sequoia Capital who was sued last week for breach of contract&#xa0;in a claim that included allegations of&#xa0;sexual and emotional abuse, filed a cross complaint on Monday&#xa0;seeking the return of "hush money" he says he paid to prevent a jilted lover from carrying out a "campaign of harassment."</p><p>Michael Goguen, who left Sequoia after the details of the lawsuit surfaced last week, said his relationship with Amber Baptiste was consensual and vehemently disputed <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-goguen-leaves-sequoia-capital-following-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-2016-3">her allegations that he sexually abused her for a period of 13 years</a>.</p><p>In a cross-complaint containing salacious photographs and graphic sexual details, Goguen seeks to portray Amber Baptiste as a one-time stripper looking for "a payday."</p><p>"Ms. Baptiste's lawsuit filed on&#xa0;March 8, 2016 is but the latest ploy in her scheme to shakedown Mr. Goguen for tens of millions&#xa0;of dollars and punish him for rejecting her, all under the guise of a lawsuit designed to incite a&#xa0;media firestorm," reads Goguen's cross-complaint, which accuses Amber Baptise of extortion and invasion of privacy, among other claims.&#xa0;</p><p>The lawsuit&#xa0;has landed like a bombshell in Silicon Valley, which has been <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ellen-pao-trial-verdict-2015-3">grappling with issues</a> of gender diversity&#xa0;and a male-dominated culture for years. Amber Baptiste, who worked as a stripper when Goguen met her in 2001, said in her lawsuit that&#xa0;<span>Goguen raped and abused her for many years, including an alleged incident where she was left "bleeding and alone on the floor of a hotel room in a foreign country."</span></p><p><span>Goguen, a partner at Sequoia&#xa0;for nearly 20 years, allegedly signed a contract agreeing to pay Baptiste $40 million to drop a prospective lawsuit against him, but only paid $10 million of that sum, according to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-goguen-leaves-sequoia-capital-following-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-2016-3">Baptiste's complaint</a>.&#xa0;&#xa0;</span></p><p>In his cross-complaint, Goguen argues that the relationship with Baptiste was consensual&#xa0;<span>and that her suit is part of a "campaign of harassment" against him after he ended the relationship</span>. The filing includes pictures of a scantily-clad woman - allegedly Amber Baptiste -&#xa0;as well as text messages that Amber Baptiste allegedly sent him.&#xa0;</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">"Far from being a victim of any sort of abuse or mistreatment of any kind, Ms. Baptiste fell deeply in love with Mr. Goguen directly because of his &#xa0;kind, caring, and compassionate treatment of her at every moment of their relationship," the complaint reads.&#xa0;</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">"Enough is enough. Mr. Goguen is no longer willing to accede to Ms. Baptiste's threats, whatever the consequences," the complaint also says.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>Goguen's suit seeks for&#xa0;Amber Baptiste to&#xa0;return&#xa0;the $10 million he paid&#xa0;her, as well as compensatory and punitive damages.&#xa0;</span></p><p>Business Insider reached out to Baptiste's attorney's for comment.&#xa0;</p><p>You can read the filing here:</p><p><div><p style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;">   <a title="View Goguen / Baptiste Cross-Complaint  on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/304679970/Goguen-Baptiste-Cross-Complaint" style="text-decoration: underline;">Goguen / Baptiste Cross-Complaint</a></p></div></p><p class="embed-spacer">&#xa0;</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/find-your-phone-google-locations-tech-android-2016-2">There's a super easy way to find your phone using Google search </a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="M1cWdhMTE6ilQ5izx7QibxtFFWyni9Yz" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

The ex-Sequoia VC accused of sexual abuse says the woman suing him is looking for 'vengeance'

<p class="source"><span>Cisco Live/Business Insider</span></p><p class="caption">Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins</p>Cisco did some bargain shopping this week when it acquired a startup called <a href="http://investor.cisco.com/investor-relations/news-and-events/news/news-details/2017/Cisco-Announces-Intent-to-Acquire-Viptela/default.aspx">Viptela for $610 million.</a><p>Just one year ago, Viptela was valued at $900 million by its investors, according to the database that tracks such things, <a href="https://my.pitchbook.com/#page/profile_1886807354">Pitchbook.</a></p><p>The startup had raised over $108 million in venture funding from VCs like Sequoia, and it achieved that valuation when it raised $75 million in May, 2016, led by European and Russian VC Redline Capital Management.</p><p>The sudden sale of such a hot startup, and the discount price, has not gone unnoticed among Silicon Valley VCs and tech industry insiders trying to gauge the health of the enterprise startup scene.</p><p><span>We've talked to two sources close to the company who described a promising business with decent sales but a variety of problems that opened the door for Cisco to walk in and snatch it at a bargain price.</span></p><p>"There was internal dysfunction, and investor dysfunction," one person told us. </p><h2>Founders and investors made millions</h2><p>Viptela offers a way for companies to connect remote offices to their corporate networks using Viptela's router and  software hosted in the cloud. It was considered a market leader in a new area called software-defined wide area networking or SDWAN. That's a new way to build networks that relies on software to do fancy control functions.</p><p>According to one source inside the company, the board sold the company on the cheap mostly because making sales in its niche of wide area networking was hard, competition was rising and the co-founders were running out of steam to build it into a long-term independent company. The founders wanted to see the technology be successful, and it might have a better shot at thriving inside of Cisco.</p><p>Meanwhile, Cisco's offer was enough for the cofounders to walk with multi-millions, and all the investors to make money, even the late-stage investors. They had a clause in their agreement that protected them if the company sold for less than their valuation. All the investors made money, both sources told us.</p><p>"The only people to get screwed were the employees who joined in last year, everyone that came on near their unicorn-level valuation, they got caught," one person told us.</p><p>This is, however, a typical risk for employees who join a more established startup. They typically get less equity and more of a chance that their stock won't be worth much if the company's value drops.</p><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/cisco-acquires-viptela/">Sequoia</a></span></p><p class="caption">The Viptela founding team signs their series A term sheet at Sequoia in 2012 (left to right) Back: Venu Hemige, Khalid Raza. Front: Atif Khan, Amir Khan, Ramesh Prabagaran</p><h2>Not a Trojan horse for Cisco</h2><p>Viptela was a startup founded by a team of accomplished engineers from Cisco, Juniper Networks and Alcatel Lucent which had been turning <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/article/2873608/sdn/viptela-brings-software-defined-wans-to-the-enterprise.html">heads in its niche.</a> Rumors had <a href="https://www.cloudgenix.com/should-cisco-acquire-viptela/">been swirling for at least a couple of days</a> that this deal was in the works.</p><p>Interestingly, four months ago, Viptela hired a new CEO, a man named Praveen Akkiraju. He was famous in his circle as a long-time Cisco engineer who became the CEO of a contentious joint venture between Cisco and EMC known as VCE. When the relationship between Cisco, EMC and VMware devolved, EMC bought out Cisco's interest in VCE. But Cisco retained a 10% stake and it got to put its own guy - Akkiraju -in as CEO. After Dell swallowed EMC, including VCE, Akkiraju was basically out of a job. He landed at Viptela in January.</p><p>One rumor says he was brought in just to orchestrate a sale to Cisco, but both people we talked to told us this wasn't the case. At the time he was hired, he was expected to be a long-time CEO.</p><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvmazAtLjyI&amp;feature=player_embedded">YouTube/CiscoSP360 </a></span></p><p class="caption">Praveen Akkiraju</p>One person told us that the real reason for the change was fractures inside the company that would have been a lot for him, an outsider, to fix.<p>The two co-founders were having disagreements, sources told us. On one side was Khalid Raza the cofounding CTO and on the other was Amir Khan, the co-founding CEO (who became president after Akkiraju joined) and his brother Atif Khan, who was running the sales engineering department. </p><p>Meanwhile, the company's key investor and board member was Michael Goguen. Goguen was a partner at Sequoia that had funded the first two rounds of the company, about $33 million. But in March, 2016, <a href="https://twitter.com/sequoia/status/708549364428316672">Sequoia fired him, it said,</a> after a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse was filed against him. He gave up all his board seats, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/13/fired-sequoia-partner-will-forfeit-board-seats-source.html">CNBC reported.</a></p><h2>New threats</h2><p>Viptela wasn't failing. It had landed 25 Fortune 500 enterprises as customers and deals with carriers like Verizon and Singtel who used its product to sell cloud networking products to other big companies, it said.</p><p>One person told us that Viptela had grown itself into about $25 million of revenue. Based on that, Cisco's price was more than fair. "These guys did $25 million in revenue for last year and sold for over $600 million. A $610 million exit? That's a great story," this person told us.</p><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-goguen-23314">LinkedIn</a></span></p><p class="caption">Michael Goguen</p>But competition was growing in the field and Viptela needed strong, solid leadership and a board that believed in them to fend off the threats. There were startups like Aryaka, Versa Networks and CloudGenix, for instance. And Cisco had invested in a competitor, too, VeloCloud.<p>Plus, Cisco had a couple of its own competing products, such as a product called "Intelligent WAN" or iWAN. And Cisco had bought a startup called Meraki for $1.2 billion a couple of years ago. Meraki is mostly known for its wireless LANs, but was being used by small businesses to connect remote offices to cloud apps, too.</p><p>All told, when Viptela went looking for a sale, it wasn't in a position of negotiating strength. </p><p>Even so, most analysts believe the Viptela's technology will be a good fit for Cisco's iWAN products, helping it sell more networking software to enterprises and service providers. Cisco is trying to remake itself into more of a software company, so this purchase could be great for Cisco.</p><p>While the whole Viptela team is joining Cisco, it's unclear if both founders will be going to Cisco as well. </p><p>Viptela declined to comment, Cisco did not return a request for comment.</p>  <p class="tagline">Get the latest Cisco stock price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/csco-Quote"> here.</a></p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marines-corps-machine-gun-wielding-robot-controlled-by-tablet-2017-4">The Marine Corps is testing a machine gun-wielding robot controlled with just a tablet and a joystick</a></h3>                                    Please enable Javascript to watch this video

How Cisco bought a $900 million startup for just $610 million

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Google</span></p><p class="caption">Go world champion Lee Sedol.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Good morning! Here's the technology news you need to know this Monday.</p><p><strong>1. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/humanitys-best-go-player-finally-beat-googles-deepmind-computer-for-the-first-time-2016-3" target="_blank">Humanity's best Go player finally beat Google's DeepMind computer for the first time.</a></strong> Lee Sedol won game four of a five-game series but <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/google-deepmind-alphago-beat-go-world-champion-lee-sedol-2016-3">DeepMind won the previous three games</a>.</p><p><strong>2. </strong><strong><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35778288" target="_blank">Minecraft is set to become a testing ground for artificial intelligence experiments</a>. </strong>Microsoft, owner of the popular video game, revealed that computer scientists and amateurs will be able to evaluate and develop AI software using its virtual landscapes from July.</p><p><strong>3. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-chinas-electric-cars-sales-to-double-in-2016-minister-2016-3" target="_blank">China's production and sale of electric cars will more than double this year, according to the country's industry minister</a>.</strong> More than 300,000 electric cars were sold in China last year.</p><p><strong>4. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/michael-goguen-leaves-sequoia-capital-following-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-2016-3" target="_blank">Longtime Sequoia Capital venture capitalist Michael Goguen has left the firm following an explosive lawsuit.</a></strong> The lawsuit accuses him of "sexually, physically, and emotionally" abusing a woman for over 13 years and then refusing to pay her an agreed upon settlement in full.</p><div><p><strong>5. <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5bfd9aee-e78f-11e5-a09b-1f8b0d268c39.html?ftcamp=published_links%2Frss%2Fcompanies_technology%2Ffeed%2F%2Fproduct#axzz42rCufyCl" target="_blank">Uber competitor Juno is going to offer drivers shares</a>. </strong>Juno's founder Talmon Marco, says the company is specifically targeting Uber drivers and offering them a better deal with lower commission rates and equity in the company.</p></div><p><strong>6. <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2016/03/13/north-korea-denies-cyber-attacks-on-south-korea-officials/" target="_blank">North Korea on Sunday denied that it conducted cyber attacks against officials from South Korea, calling the South's accusation that it did so a "fabrication."</a></strong> South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers on Friday that North Korea had succeeded in hacking the mobile phones of 40 national security officials.</p><p><strong>7. <strong><a href="http://venturebeat.com/2016/03/12/mark-zuckerberg-congratulates-google-for-historic-ai-achievement/" target="_blank">Facebook cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg complimented a London startup that was acquired by Google in 2014.</a></strong> </strong>"Congrats to the Google DeepMind team on this historic milestone in AI research -- a third straight victory over Go grandmaster Lee Sedol," he wrote on Facebook. "We live in exciting times."</p><p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35778288" target="_blank"></a><strong>8. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/over-a-third-of-people-think-ai-poses-a-threat-to-humanity-2016-3" target="_blank">Over a third of people think AI poses a threat to humanity, </a><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/over-a-third-of-people-think-ai-poses-a-threat-to-humanity-2016-3" target="_blank">according to a YouGov survey for the British Science Association.</a> </strong>The study also found that 60% of people think the use of robots or programmes underpinned by AI will lead to unemployment.</p><p><strong>9. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/facebook-wants-to-pay-celebrities-to-create-more-live-content-2016-3" target="_blank">Facebook wants to pay celebrities to create more live content</a>.</strong> Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is reportedly in Hollywood schmoozing with talent agents in an attempt to convince celebrities to start using Live, the company's live streaming video product.</p><p><strong>10. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/lingumi-the-startup-everyone-was-talking-about-at-efs-demo-day-2016-3" target="_blank">An Oxford grad and a JP Morgan intern are building a startup that helps pre-school children learn English</a>. </strong>Lingumi's first product is a set of "Learning Cubes" that interact with a tablet or smartphone to teach sounds, words, and phrases.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/text-message-mistakes-relationships-aziz-ansari-eric-klinenberg-2016-2">Avoid these 5 mistakes when texting someone you want to date</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="djZXY4MTE6MRGnyO33CF6FT0sP1C4uTX" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

10 things in tech you need to know today

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Google</span></p><p class="caption">Go world champion Lee Sedol.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Good morning! Here's the technology news you need to know this Tuesday.</p><p><strong>1. </strong><strong><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/lee-sedol-makes-surprise-move-before-final-match-against-alphago-2016-3" target="_blank">Go world champion Lee Sedol made a surprise move ahead of the fifth and final game against Google DeepMind's AlphaGo AI</a>.</strong> He asked if it was possible to play with black stones instead of white stones. DeepMind said yes.</p><p><strong>2. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/facebook-google-and-whatsapp-are-all-planning-to-increase-encryption-2016-3" target="_blank">Facebook, Google, and Snapchat are working on their own increased privacy technology as Apple fights the US government over encryption</a>.</strong> Apple is due to appear in a federal court in California later this month to fight a court order.</p><p><strong>3. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/some-of-britains-smartest-people-are-leaving-google-and-goldman-to-join-entrepreneur-first-2016-3" target="_blank">Some of Britain's smartest people are leaving Google and Goldman Sachs to join Entrepreneur First's startup building programme</a>.</strong> Those accepted onto the programme receive £17,000 in pre-seed funding in return for an 8% equity stake in the company that is created.</p><p><strong>4. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/lendinvest-atomico-series-b-fundraise-2016-3" target="_blank">LendInvest, a peer-to-peer short-term mortgage finance platform, has raised £17 million ($24.4 million)</a>.</strong> The money came from venture capital firm Atomico.</p><p><strong>5. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/google-charleston-east-campus-drawings-2016-3" target="_blank">The city of Mountain View in California has released the latest designs for one of the buildings at Google's new global headquarters</a>.</strong> The building, known as Charleston East, will be two stories and about 595,000 square feet.</p><p><strong>6. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/good-for-business-uk-tech-companies-make-their-feelings-on-the-eu-known-2016-3" target="_blank">UK tech companies are strongly in favour of remaining in the European Union, according to a poll from industry trade body techUK</a>.</strong> The poll, taken by 227 tech business leaders, found that 70% of <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword> technology companies want to remain in the EU. Just 15% of tech firms want to leave and 15% are still undecided.</p><p><strong>7. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/uber-rival-hopes-to-poach-drivers-by-offering-them-equity-2016-3" target="_blank">The cofounder of Viber is hoping to poach Uber drivers by offering them equity in his new taxi app, Juno</a>.</strong> Talmon Marco - who set up WhatsApp competitor Viber in 2010 - is specifically targeting Uber drivers with high ratings by offering them lower commission rates and equity.</p><p><strong>8. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/microsoft-kicks-okta-out-of-its-conference-2016-3" target="_blank">Microsoft has uninvited cloud startup Okta, a customer and partner, from its upcoming Ignite tech conference</a>.</strong> Microsoft said hat the event's leadership team refused Okta's sponsorship and removed it as an exhibitor "due to broad competition between our companies in the mobility solution space."</p><p><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/a-british-15-year-old-won-250000-at-a-drone-racing-tournament-in-dubai-2016-3" target="_blank"></a><strong>9. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-bought-honest-dollar-2016-3" target="_blank">Goldman Sachs is buying Honest Dollar, an Austin, Texas-based startup that serves small businesses looking to set up retirement-saving schemes for staff</a>.</strong> The startup claims that it takes employers 90 seconds to sign up and offers retirement benefits plans for as little as $8 (£5.59) per employee per month.</p><p><strong>10. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/former-sequoia-partner-michael-goguen-files-counter-suit-2016-3" target="_blank">Michael Goguen, the ex-Sequoia VC accused of sexual abuse, says the woman suing him is looking for "vengeance</a>."</strong> He has filed a cross complaint where he claims his relationship with Amber Baptiste was consensual and vehemently disputes <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-goguen-leaves-sequoia-capital-following-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-2016-3">her allegations that he sexually abused her for a period of 13 years</a>.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/find-your-phone-google-locations-tech-android-2016-2">There's a super easy way to find your phone using Google search </a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="M1cWdhMTE6ilQ5izx7QibxtFFWyni9Yz" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

<p class="p1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div>Tech's hottest investment right now is cybersecurity. Technical and boring as it may sound, investors are flocking to businesses claiming to add some semblance of data protection.</p><p class="p1">The latest example of this is the New York-based digital security company <a href="http://securityscorecard.com/">SecurityScorecard</a>, which has raised a $12.5 million Series A round of funding led by Sequoia Capital. Sequoia partner Michael Goguen has joined the company's board. Existing investors Boldstart and Evolution Equity Partners also participated in the round. In total, the company has raised $14.7 million following a seed round from last year. </p><p class="p1">SecurityScorecard provides a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that gives companies insight into how secure their partners and vendors are. The thesis behind the company is that it's not enough to know that your company is secure; You've got to make sure your partners and vendors are also safe.</p><p class="p1">To do this, SecurityScorecard keeps tabs on other companies' cybersecurity practices by tracking thousands of security vectors. This includes what hackers are talking about (i.e. is a hacker forum discussing your company), what ways hackers attack companies, which companies have most recently been attacked, how quickly companies react, and what their history with data security are. It aggregates this information onto a platform that gives each company a report card grade. Its customers pay an annual fee based on how many companies they would like to track.</p><p class="p1">SecurityScorecard's business capitalizes on the uncertainty in today's digital business landscape. Companies are scrambling to digitize and connect their data, but many are significantly lacking when it comes to how they secure this data. Sony's embarrassing hack last year served as a wakeup call to many other companies.</p><p class="p1">This is why Aleksandr Yampolskiy started the company, he told Business Insider. As the former chief security officer at Gilt Group with a heavy cryptology background, Yampolskiy feared his vendors' practices. Gilt shares its data with many other companies and he wanted a way to make sure they treated it with the utmost care. Many companies, he said, simply "pretend the problem doesn't exist." So he teamed up with Sam Kassoumeh - also a former Gilt Group chief security officer - to build SecurityScorecard.</p><p class="p1">This funding comes at a time when security is hot. Beyond Sequoia, cybersecurity firms of late have been seeing marked investor interest. Take, for example, cybersecurity firms Rapid7, LogRhythm, and Mimecast - all of which <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/03/20/us-cybersecurity-ipo-exclusive-idUKKBN0MG2ET20150320">plan to go public later this year</a> with valuations exceeding $1 billion. In short, while the technical nature of the security space isn't necessarily sexy, companies and investors are finally figuring out how important good practices are.</p><p class="p1">Yampolskiy has also noticed an uptick in security interest. While his client list is relatively small ("dozens of companies," he said), the volume of new interest has been growing rapidly, according to Yampolskiy. </p><p class="p1">What's also increasing, said the CEO, is demand for security education. This is a heartening sentiment, given that we're talking about multi-billion dollar companies attempting to secure their precious data.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jen-selter-belfies-instagram-background-kim-kardashian-butt-selfie-2015-2">Forget Kim Kardashian - the 'butt selfie' queen of Instagram is a 21-year-old from Long Island</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="4yYmk2czojuTR5jCduGtnG0enYdapsNF" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

You Searched For "michael goguen" and got 10 results

Silicon Valley billionaire sues New York Post for defamation over allegations that he kept a spreadsheet of 5,000 women he had sex with

Jacob Shamsian,Áine Cain

Tech billionaire whose ex-staff allege he kept a 'harem' of women and schemed to kill his critics accuses the New York Post of defamation

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People are incredulous that an ordinary house in rural Montana is on the market for over $1 million

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A former Sequoia Capital partner has won an extortion case against his former mistress after a 3-year court battle

Megan Hernbroth

A longtime VC at Sequoia is out of the firm following an explosive lawsuit

JILLIAN D'ONFRO

The ex-Sequoia VC accused of sexual abuse says the woman suing him is looking for 'vengeance'

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How Cisco bought a $900 million startup for just $610 million

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10 things in tech you need to know today

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10 things in tech you need to know today

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A security startup that reveals how secure your business partners are just raised $12.5 million from Sequoia Capital

Cale Guthrie Weissman

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