• by Ray Schultz , April 29, 2021

The board of email marketing startup Iterable has fired its CEO Justin Zhu For taking LSD on the job, Bloomberg reports. 

Zhu took a minor amount of the psychedelic drug prior to a meeting in 2019, believing that such a microdose would help him focus, Zhu told Bloomberg.

Co-founder Andrew Boni, who is taking over from Zhu, sent an email to staff on Monday stating that Zhu had violated “Iterable’s Employee Handbook, policies and values.” 

Zhu “undermined the board’s confidence in Justin’s ability to lead the company going forward,” Boni added. 

However, Boni praised Zhu as a “world-class innovator and creative thinker,” adding that Zhu’s “vision, creativity and passion will remain a core part of our culture.”

It’s not clear why this incident is now coming to light. 

While Boni did not specify an exact violation, Zhu told Bloomberg it was for his taking LSD. 

LSD it seen by some as an aid to creativity — at least that was the rationale of many who took it during the 1960s. A full dose can lead to a trip that lasts for hours.