A portion of the internet is criticizing the co-founder of a Silicon Valley startup for quitting the business months after her fellow founder was hurt in a vicious attack.  On Friday, Peggy Wang announced on social media that she was starting her own firm and resigning from her position as co-founder of Ego.

She said she was still “extremely bullish” about Vishnu Hari, the co-founder of Ego, who she called “Vish” in her post, and the rest of the team.

The vicious assault that had sent Hari to the hospital was not mentioned by Wang.  After being brutally attacked in San Francisco on January 18, the Indian-American computer entrepreneur was discovered bleeding.  After then, he recuperated from a severe brain injury in the intensive care unit for two weeks.

Hari claimed to have been released from the intensive care unit “after traumatic brain injury due to a man hitting me on the back of my head with a metal pipe, completely unprovoked, in the mission in San Francisco” in an X post published on February 1.

I have half blindness in my right eye and poor hearing in my left ear as a result of his attack.  For no apparent reason, he attacked me as I was making my way home from the corner store.  “He ripped off all of my jewelry and piercings, but he didn’t end up stealing my phone or wallet,” he disclosed, adding that he didn’t remember the incident.

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In her X post from last week, Wang announced that she was starting her own business, which had already been approved by Y Combinator, a startup accelerator.  By the way, Y Combinator also supported Ego, an AI-native simulation engine that lets users make and share 3D animated characters.

I resigned from my position as cofounder of Ego a few months ago because we had different ideas about the company’s future.  “I’m still really optimistic about Vish, the team, and the area they’re occupying,” Wang declared.

According to Wang, she co-founded Ego because she thought that interactive media and games would be the next big thing in social spaces.  According to her, the development of AI entities that resemble humans strengthens this idea and creates new avenues for online communication.

She said that she is prepared to create once more as a member of YC’s F25 cohort after a brief pause.  Her startup will concentrate on the consumer AI market this time.

Numerous individuals immediately criticized Wang, accusing her of “betraying” her co-founder Vishnu Hari.

“Screwed over her co-founder when he was just recovering from an attack in San Francisco and then applied to YC with a competing idea.”  One especially hateful post said, “You’re a trash human being, Peggy.”

“This should carry extremely severe criminal charges in a normal world.  Another user wrote, “The English language does not contain enough words to convey this degree of evil.”

Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan intervened to defend Wang once the abuse became so severe.

“I am keeping an eye on you if you are verbally abusing and disrespecting Peggy.  There will be repercussions, and it’s not acceptable,” Tan stated on X.

How Vishnu Hari responded

In response to Wang’s tweet, Hari also said that after she left the company and while he was still recovering from blood clots, she forced him to sign a non-disparagement provision.

When my Forbes 30u30 co-founder left the company while I was still recovering from the blood clots in my brain, she requested me to sign a non-disparagement contract.  Thus, I am unable to speak at all,” he asserted.

When asked why he signed the provision, Hari replied that Wang’s attorneys had persuaded him to do so and that he wanted to concentrate on getting better.  “As requested by her attorneys.”  With the limited knowledge I had at the time, I wanted to return to my healing and concentrate solely on reviving the business.  Fortunately, the rest of the team remained and provided invaluable support.  “I have no animosity toward anyone,” he declared.