The sound of the word “sorry” keeps ringing through Silicon Valley following even more allegations of sexual misconduct brought against venture capitalists.

Perhaps that’s a sign of progress in the old and young boys club that runs tech’s epicenter. Yet to many, the apologies, such as one from Dave McClure of 500 Startups entitled “I’m a Creep. I’m Sorry,” still ring a bit hollow, given that they didn’t arrive until either after damning stories in the press or just before, in apparent knowledge that a story was coming.

The latest of those accounts came Friday, when The New York Times ran a story on more than two dozen female entrepreneurs, some on the record, who discussed the sexual harassment they had experienced trying to get funding from venture capitalists. This came less than a week after a story in The Information in which Binary Capital’s Justin Caldbeck was accused by several women of abusing his position by pressuring them for sex.

The Times report was also remarkable for naming two new investors accused of such misconduct, both of whom were more prominent and respected in the Valley startup community: McClure and Lowercase Capital’s Chris Sacca (pictured), who recently “retired” at age 42 ostensibly to try new things. Both men have since issued apologies with varying degrees of contrition.

In his post, McClure called himself a “creep,” stating that he would “like to apologize for being a clueless, selfish, unapologetic and defensive ass.” Even that didn’t impress some victims, who claimed his behavior was worse than he made it sound.

In another post on Medium, befitting the site’s reputation as a place for the famous, the infamous and the unknown to bare their souls, Sacca apologized for the behavior of men in the industry, acknowledging that he was partly to blame for making women feel uncomfortable. “I made some women feel self-conscious, anxious, and fear they might not be taken seriously. I am sorry,” wrote Sacca.

In a twist, McClure had been an outspoken advocate of empowering female entrepreneurship in the industry. Nonetheless, several “inappropriate interactions with women” led 500 Startups cofounder Christine Tsai to relegate him to a limited role in the company from here on out. Although McClure said he’s undergoing counseling for his behavior, there have been calls for him to step down completely as a general partner. Update Monday, July 3: He just did.

Entrepreneur Susan Wu told the Times that she been the victim of such bad behavior on more than one occasion, stating that she had been propositioned by Caldbeck while raising funds and made to feel uncomfortable by advances from Sacca. “There is such a massive imbalance of power that women in the industry often end up in distressing situations,” said Wu.

Indeed, a new Harvard Business Review report compared the progress of male and female entrepreneurs at TechCrunch Disrupt New York. According to the report, the startups that were followed were similar in terms of quality and capital needs, yet “male-led startups in our sample raised five times more funding than female-led ones.”

Sexual harassment and discrimination against women entrepreneurs are clearly intertwined, but another account suggests that the situation is more complex. On Saturday, SlideShare cofounder Rashmi Sinha described her experience as a female entrepreneur, saying that VCs seemed far more comfortable talking to white husband and cofounder of the company. “The final straw was when a prominent VC firm gave us an offer, as long as I stepped down as CEO,” wrote Sinha. Not surprisingly, the company declined that offer.

At the same time, she said that although she doesn’t excuse McClure’s untoward interactions with women entrepreneurs, he also was supportive of her and outraged about how she had been treated.

The only thing that’s clear is that the Valley has a lot of soul-searching and behavior modification left to do. But it’s not yet apparent that it will lead the way to a more woman-friendly business world as well as it has led its technological transformation.

Image: Collision Conf via Flickr