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Maybe it’s because I’m over 50. Maybe it’s because I’ve lived long enough to stop caring what people think. But here’s what I know: I don’t back down to bullies. Not online, not in business, not anywhere.
Yesterday, I got a front-row seat to the same tired tactic I’ve seen play out for decades, the one designed to silence truth-tellers.
The VC “Sh*t List” Nobody Talks About
I’ve been working with fundraising expert Helena Fogarty, who runs a podcast interviewing founders and VCs. Recently, she surfaced a truth most people whisper about but rarely say publicly: the VC “sh*t list.” Every founder has one. It’s the investors they’d never take money from again — the ones who burned them, bullied them, or exploited their desperation. But here’s the problem: almost nobody says those names out loud. Founders are afraid of being blacklisted or cast out of the ecosystem. Helena posted about it on LinkedIn. I was the first to comment: the only way you protect others is by naming names.
And Then It Got Interesting
Another woman, Linda Sugarman, jumped in. And she did what most people are too scared to do: she named a name. She said she’d been warning people about this individual for twenty years. And then, like clockwork, he appeared in the comments.
First, he claimed he didn’t know her. Then, he said she was stalking him. Then, he accused her of antisemitism. Finally, he pivoted to me, flexing credentials as a “former law enforcement officer,” and told me to “Google him.” It was textbook misdirection.
My Response
I told Linda what I tell anyone brave enough to name names: it takes courage. If what she said wasn’t true, he could sue for defamation. The fact that she was willing to risk that told me everything I needed to know. I believed her. That was enough to make him spiral. He bragged about law enforcement ties, his supposed millions of followers, and when I shared a link raising questions about how he represents himself, his comeback was: “I’ll be sure to tell everyone you’re anti-cop.” My reply was simple: “That’s the playbook. Keep it up. We see you 👀.”
Why This Matters
Because this isn’t just about one exchange on LinkedIn. It’s about the pattern that repeats everywhere — in business, in politics, in cults, in corporations.
Here’s how it works:
Authority flex - lead with credentials, titles, clout.
Attack the accuser - call them unstable, malicious, or untrustworthy.
Claim victimhood - cry harassment, discrimination, or persecution.
Ignore the substance - never answer the actual accusation.
You’ve seen it before. You’ll see it again. And once you recognize it, you can’t unsee it.
The Bottom Line
You don’t have to fight every bully. But you do have to call out the pattern. Because once you name it, it loses its power. For me, truth has always been non-negotiable. And here’s what I know with every cell in my body:
👉 The truth always comes to light. Maybe not in the moment. Maybe not on our preferred timeline. But eventually. Always.
That’s why I never back down.
