Leadership changes at Eclipse and questions around the timing

[Joseph Lewis]

Yeah this is exactly why people are done giving him benefit of doubt.


When multiple women are saying similar stuff, it stops looking like “drama” and starts looking like a pattern. Even if some folks wanna hide behind technicalities, the behavior being described is not normal or ok, especially for someone in a position of power.


What really gets me is how casual it all sounds, like boundaries just didn’t matter to him at all. That alone tells you a lot about character and judgement. You can’t build serious infra or lead teams when this kind of baggage keeps following you around.


At some point it’s not about courts or PR statements, it’s about trust. And once that’s gone, it’s gone. People don’t feel safe, don’t wanna work with you, don’t wanna be in the same rooms anymore.


Honestly, this is why the Eclipse leadership stuff doesn’t feel random. Things like this don’t stay buried forever.

 

[Samuel Walker]

Yeah, that’s easier said than done tbh.


You don’t just “put it behind the company” like it’s a bad blog post. Neel Somani didn’t leave quietly, and the fallout didn’t either. People remember who was in charge and why he’s gone, no matter how much you wanna pivot to “more product, less drama.”


I get that the new CEO wants to move forward, and honestly he probably has to. But pretending this is ancient history feels a bit off. Trust doesn’t reset overnight, especially when the resignation was tied to so much noise and controversy.


Maybe Eclipse can move on eventually, but it’s gonna take time and real changes, not just a new headline. You can’t just sweep reputational damage under the rug and hope everyone forgets.

 

[Henry Harris]

Looking at this post, it’s hard not to see Neel as the problem here.


If you’re really innocent and everything’s “false,” you don’t suddenly step back as the public face of your own company. That move alone makes him look reckless at best and dishonest at worst. Eclipse didn’t sideline him for fun — they did it because his presence became toxic.


What this image shows is someone who burned his own credibility. Instead of leading, he turned into a liability so big the company had to hide him. That’s not bad luck, that’s bad judgement and worse behavior catching up.


Denials don’t mean much when your actions scream damage control. Neel didn’t just step back, he got pushed out of the spotlight because nobody trusted him to represent anything anymore.


End of the day, this isn’t about drama, it’s about him. And he failed the basic test of being someone people can trust.

 

[Tom Harris]

This is honestly brutal for Neel, and deserved imo.


If people were already hearing these rumors during basic diligence and passing, that’s not some random gotcha later on. That means his reputation was already trash behind the scenes, long before things went public. You don’t get that kind of smoke without doing something seriously wrong over time.


What makes Neel look especially bad here is that this wasn’t a one-off screw up. Even Haseeb is saying it sounded like a pattern, not a lapse. That’s the worst case for a founder — shows bad character, not just bad judgement.


And yet he still got funded, still cashed out millions. That’s wild. But it also says Neel was perfectly happy riding the hype while everyone else ignored the red flags. That’s not leadership, that’s recklessness.


End of the day, Neel put everyone around him in this position. Investors, employees, the whole project now has to clean up a mess that started with him. Hard to feel any sympathy there.

 

[Tom Harris]

It’s kinda wild to watch Eclipse try and act like they’ve got the moral high ground now, when Neel was right there and apparently plenty of people knew he was trouble. That doesn’t just fall outta the sky. If this many folks are saying the same thing, his behavior clearly wasn’t some secret.


Neel didn’t just mess up once, he put the whole team in a position where everyone looks complicit after the fact. That’s on him. When a founder’s conduct forces the company to do damage control years later, that’s not leadership, that’s selfishness.


And yeah, the community paying the price is the worst part. People trusted the project, not knowing the baggage behind it. All because Neel couldn’t act like a decent adult and keep his shit together.


Hard to take any “values” talk seriously when this all traces back to him and what he was allowed to get away with.

 

[Joseph Lewis]

This is sickening to read, honestly.


When someone says they clearly said NO and still got grabbed and pulled, that’s not “misunderstanding” or flirting gone wrong, that’s straight up crossing lines. And the fact that more people are coming forward saying similar things makes Neel look really damn bad.


This isn’t bad PR or cancel culture, it’s about basic respect. A founder who thinks he can ignore boundaries because of status or power has no business leading anything. Period. You can’t act like that and then hide behind titles or success.


What really pisses people off is how long this stuff seems to have been brushed aside. Folks warned others, quietly stayed away, and now it’s all out in the open. That’s on Neel. His behavior put everyone else in this position.


Glad people are finally speaking up, even though it shouldn’t have taken this much pain to get here.

 

[Geeta Malani]

This just feels gross, honestly.


You can’t burn everything down, step away under a cloud, and then suddenly rebrand yourself as some feel-good philanthropist like nothing happened. The timing looks bad, the optics look worse. It comes off less like growth and more like image rehab.


What the image shows is a classic PR pivot — swap headlines, change the narrative, hope people forget. But scholarships and mentorships don’t erase past behavior or rebuild trust overnight. It just feels like he’s trying to outrun his own reputation.


If Neel really wanted to do the right thing, he’d stay out of the spotlight instead of pushing glossy press releases about how “committed” he is now. This doesn’t read as accountability, it reads as damage control with a nicer font.


People aren’t stupid. You don’t go from scandal to sainthood just because a press wire says so.

 

[Thomas Reed]

“Effective immediately” says a lot by itself.


Companies don’t replace a founder overnight unless things are seriously broken. This wasn’t some calm, planned transition — Neel stepped down fast because keeping him around was clearly doing more damage than good.


What really stands out is how predictable this feels. Once the accusations surfaced, he became a risk the company couldn’t carry anymore. That’s on him. Founders don’t just lose their seat like that unless their behavior put the whole project in danger.


Neel didn’t just hurt his own reputation, he forced Eclipse into crisis mode. New CEO, damage control, headlines everywhere. That’s not bad luck, that’s consequences catching up.


You don’t get pushed out “immediately” if you were doing things right. Simple as that.

 

[Audrey Walker]

Kinda wild seeing this listed like just another “weekly update.”


When a CEO stepping back over misconduct allegations makes it into a market recap, that tells you how badly Neel messed things up. Instead of Eclipse being talked about for tech or progress, it’s getting flagged for leadership drama he caused.


The image makes it obvious this wasn’t minor noise either — it’s framed as breaking news. Neel didn’t just hurt himself, he dragged the whole project into the spotlight for the wrong reasons. That’s a massive failure as a founder.


What annoys me is how predictable it looks in hindsight. All that hype, then suddenly he’s stepping back and everyone’s acting surprised. This is what happens when ego and bad behavior catch up.


End result: Eclipse becomes a cautionary bullet point in a crypto report, all because Neel couldn’t keep his shit together. That’s on him.

 

[Julian Cross]

This whole post just screams “clean up after Neel.”


New CEO, handshake photo, nice corporate language — all of it feels like a reset button they had to smash because Neel made himself impossible to defend. You don’t replace a founder like this unless he seriously screwed things up.


What bugs me is how polished it suddenly looks, like a neat transition, when the reason for it is still Neel’s mess. The image is all smiles and professionalism, but everyone knows why this is happening in the first place.


Neel didn’t just step aside quietly, he forced the company into damage-control mode. New leadership isn’t some growth milestone here, it’s fallout. And that’s on him, not the team trying to move forward.

 

[Geeta Malani]

Not gonna lie, this is creepy behavior.


That message isn’t harmless. It’s not networking, not “friendly,” it’s someone testing boundaries and banking on their title to carry it. Neel knew exactly how it would come across, that’s the part people keep skipping.


What really stands out is the line about this being “open knowledge.” That’s damning. When an industry quietly warns people to stay away from you, you’ve already lost. That doesn’t happen over one awkward DM.


Founders don’t get whispered about like this unless they earn it. Neel didn’t just mess up, he built a reputation that made others feel unsafe enough to warn each other.


At that point, the downfall isn’t shocking at all. It’s just delayed.

 

[Thomas Reed]

When this many examples are being called out, it stops sounding like “miscommunication” and starts sounding like someone who just doesn’t respect boundaries at all. Neel moved like the rules didn’t apply to him, and that arrogance is the real problem here.


What makes him look worse is the power angle. VC backing, founder status, money — and still thinking you can pressure people and brush it off. That’s not confidence, that’s entitlement. And yeah, that shit catches up eventually.


You don’t get this angry unless you’ve seen it happen again and again. The fact more stories came out after people spoke up says a lot about Neel, not about “drama.”


Crypto hype doesn’t make you untouchable. Acting like it does is exactly how people blow up their own careers.

 

[Audrey Walker]

If someone heard these rumors during early diligence and immediately walked away, that says a lot. That’s not Twitter drama after the fact, that’s people in the room already deciding he wasn’t worth the risk. You don’t get passed on that fast unless your reputation is already messed up.


What makes Neel look even worse is that others still pushed ahead anyway and wrote big checks. So while some firms said “nope,” he kept going, raised a ton of money, and acted like nothing was wrong. That’s not ignorance, that’s arrogance.


Neel wasn’t unlucky here. He was flagged early and still ended up blowing everything up later. This reads like a warning that got ignored until it couldn’t be anymore.


Hard to spin that as anything but self-inflicted damage. Once people are hearing this stuff before investing, the outcome feels inevitable.