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History

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Latest comment: 2 years ago5 comments2 people in discussion

Early history and investments

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Sequoia was founded by Don Valentine in 1972 in Menlo Park, California,[1][2] at a time when the state’s venture capital industry was just beginning to develop.[3][4] Valentine named the firm after the redwood trees that grow in Northern California and are known for their strength and longevity.[5][6]

Sequoia formed its first venture capital fund in 1974,[3][7] and was an early investor in Atari the next year.[5][8][9] In 1978, Sequoia became one of the first investors in Apple.[8][6][10]

In the 1980s, Electronic Arts and Sierra Semiconductor both incubated in the Sequoia offices.[10][11] Sequoia was an early investor in Oracle in 1983, six years after the company was founded, and also invested in Cisco in 1987.[12][13][5]

Partners Doug Leone and Michael Moritz assumed leadership of the firm in 1996.[5][14]

Global expansion

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In 1999, Sequoia established a dedicated investment fund for Israeli startups,[15] and the firm expanded its operations further into global markets in the early 2000s.[3] In 2005, Sequoia Capital China was established.[16] In 2006, Sequoia Capital expanded to India with the acquisition of Westbridge Capital Partners, an Indian venture capital firm.[17] This acquisition eventually became Sequoia Capital India.[17] Notable investments have included CloudShare and Snaptu in Israel,[3][18] Alibaba and Meituan in China,[3][19][20] and Byju and Ola in India.[3][21][22]

2010s

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In 2012, Moritz took a step back from the day-to-day operations of the firm after being diagnosed with an unspecified illness.[23] Leone became Global Managing Partner.[24][25] Jim Goetz led Sequoia’s US business from 2012 until 2017, when he was succeeded by Roelof Botha.[26] Botha has led Sequoia’s investments in YouTube, Square, 23andMe, and Unity Technologies, among others.[27][28][29]

In 2015, Michael Moritz was questioned about Sequoia's lack of any women investing partners. Moritz argued that there were few qualified female candidates, because American women "tend to elect not to study the sciences when they’re 11 or 12", and said that Sequoia would not "lower our standards" to hire women.[30]

In 2016, Sequoia hired Jess Lee, making her the first female investing partner in the United States in the firm's 44-year history.[31][32]

Notable investments in the late 2010s included Figma,[33] UiPath,[34] and Zoom.[35] In 2019, Sequoia made more new seed-stage investments than Series A deals.[36]

2020 to present

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In March 2020, Sequoia announced it would hire Luciana Lixandru as its first partner based in Europe.[37][38]

On March 5, 2020, Sequoia Capital sent a notice to its portfolio companies warning that the global economy could be restrained by the coronavirus, and urging these companies to “question every assumption about your business."[39]Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). The memo echoed a presentation called "R.I.P. Good Times" that was prepared by the firm in 2008 and detailed how to survive the economic downturn.[40][41] In March 2021, Sequoia sent a follow-up memo to founders called “COVID Accelerated the Future: Now Seize It”, instructing them to prepare for a window of opportunity as the world begins to reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic.[42]

In July 2021, Sequoia published a piece about "the Latin American startup opportunity" that signaled it would increase its focus there.[43][44] The firm previously invested in regional unicorns Nubank and Rappi.[45]

In October 2021, Sequoia announced The Sequoia Fund, a new fund structure for its U.S. and European business.[46][47] The Sequoia Fund is an open-ended capital vehicle for all future Sequoia sub-funds.[46][47] This new structure enables Sequoia to remain involved with and invested in companies after their public market debuts.[48][49][50] Sequoia also announced it was registering as an investment advisor, providing flexibility for the firm to invest in more crypto assets and secondary stock.[47][51] A quarter of Sequoia’s new investments in 2021 were crypto-related.[52]

Also in October 2021, Sequoia Capital China participated in a US$65 million funding round in Animoca.[53] In November 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported that Sequoia Capital’s China unit is a major investor in Chinese semiconductor firms, raising U.S. national security concerns.[54]

References

  1. ^ McBride, Sarah (February 20, 2014). "With WhatsApp deal, Sequoia Capital burnishes reputation". Reuters. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  2. ^ Larreur, Charles-Henri (2021). Structured Finance: Leveraged Buyouts, Project Finance, Asset Finance and Securitization (1st ed.). US: Wiley. p. 81. ISBN 1119371104. Retrieved June 28, 2021. Don Valentine created Sequoia Capital in 1972 in Menlo Park, California.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Da Rin, Marco; Hellman, Thomas (2020). Fundamentals of Entrepreneurial Finance (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 485. ISBN 0199744750. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  4. ^ Ferrary, Michel; Granovetter, Mark (May 20, 2009). "The role of venture capital firms in Silicon Valley's complex innovation network". Economy and Society: 326–359. doi:10.1080/03085140902786827. The most prominent VC firms were created in the 1970s. In 1969, the Mayfield Fund was founded; Sequoia Capital and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers followed in 1972. By 1975, more than thirty VC firms were located in the Bay Area.
  5. ^ a b c d Griffith, Erin (October 25, 2019). "Don Valentine, Founder of Sequoia Capital, Is Dead at 87". The New York Times. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Stellabotte, Ryan (October 30, 2019). "Fordham Mourns the Death of Don Valentine, Silicon Valley and Venture Capital Pioneer". Fordham News. Fordham University. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  7. ^ Loizos, Connie (October 25, 2019). "Don Valentine, who founded Sequoia Capital, has died at age 87". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Guthrie, Julian (December 7, 2011). "'Something Ventured' tells story of tech investors". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  9. ^ Nicholas, Tom (2019). VC: An American History. US: Harvard University Press. p. 228. ISBN 0674988000. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  10. ^ a b Henbroth, Megan (October 26, 2019). "Sequoia Capital founder Don Valentine has died at age 87". Business Insider. Insider Inc. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  11. ^ Berlin, Leslie (2017). Troublemakers: Silicon Valley's Coming of Age. US: Simon & Schuster. p. 346. ISBN 1451651503. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  12. ^ Nicholas, Tom (2019). "Silicon Valley and the Emergence of Investment Styles". VC: An American History. US: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674988000.
  13. ^ Winkler, Rolfe (October 27, 2019). "Venture Capital Pioneer Kept Entrepreneurs' Egos in Check". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  14. ^ Marinova, Polina (October 25, 2021). "Silicon Valley Remembers Sequoia Capital Founder Don Valentine". Fortune. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  15. ^ "Cisco, Sequoia Capital set up Israeli venture fund". National Post. Financial Post DataGroup. June 28, 1999 – via LexisNexis.
  16. ^ Yang, Jing; Yu, Xie (September 10, 2020). "Successful With Chinese Startups, Sequoia China Launches a Hedge Fund". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  17. ^ a b Chanchani, Madhav (June 25, 2009). "Sequoia Capital exits Firstsource Solutions, Royal Orchid". Reuters. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  18. ^ Kelly, Meghan (August 23, 2012). "Mazel tov, Israeli startups, Sequoia Capital raised $200M to fund you". Reuters. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  19. ^ Wu1, Kane; Zhu, Julie (September 21, 2020). "Sequoia Capital China raising $2.2 billion in new yuan fund, say sources". Reuters. Retrieved July 1, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ Steinberg, Julie (September 27, 2018). "Investors Gain Billions From Chinese Tech IPO". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  21. ^ Singh, Shipra (August 27, 2020). "With Byju's, OYO, Ola in its Kitty, Sequoia is the Top Investor in India". Entrepreneur India. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  22. ^ Abrar, Peerzada (March 19, 2021). "Current moment in road to recovery: VC firm Sequoia tells founders and CEOs". Business Standard. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  23. ^ Cutler, Kim-Mai (May 21, 2021). "Venture Capitalist Michael Moritz Says He's Stepping Back From Sequoia Because Of Illness". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  24. ^ Garland, Russ (December 10, 2012). "Sequoia's Leone: In Venture, Big is the Enemy of Great". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Retrieved August 3, 2021. Leone, who has been managing Sequoia since Michael Moritz stepped back because of illness in May, skewered VCs who act like private-equity managers with corner offices and pride in their assets under management and investment "platforms."
  25. ^ Anders, George; Konrad, Alex (April 23, 2014). "Sequoia Capital: Creating Disruptions, and Billionaires". Forbes India. Retrieved August 3, 2021. Even in his perch as a managing partner at venture firm Sequoia Capital, Leone still carries himself like a hard-luck striver, scrambling for his first decent break.
  26. ^ Primack, Dan (January 31, 2017). "Sequoia Capital shakes up leadership". Axios. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  27. ^ de la Merced, Michael J. (January 31, 2017). "Sequoia Capital Reshuffles Leadership". The New York Times. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  28. ^ Burns, Matt (April 14, 2014). "Top Sequoia Capital Partner Roelof Botha To Take The Stage At Disrupt NY 2014". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  29. ^ Crook, Jordan (April 29, 2020). "Extra Crunch Live". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
  30. ^ Kulwin, Noah (December 3, 2015). "Venerated VC Michael Moritz Opens Mouth, Inserts Foot on Question About Hiring Women". Recode.
  31. ^ Del Rey, Jason (October 20, 2016). "Sequoia Capital has hired Polyvore's Jess Lee as its first woman investment partner". Recode.
  32. ^ Benner, Katie (October 20, 2016). "Sequoia Capital Hires First Female Investment Partner in U.S." The New York Times. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  33. ^ Chapman, Lizette (June 24, 2021). "Software Design Startup Figma Is Now Worth $10 Billion". Bloomberg. Retrieved October 11, 2021. 'The potential of this company is genuinely enormous,' said Andrew Reed, a partner at Sequoia Capital who first invested in the company in 2019 and participated in the most recent funding round.
  34. ^ Sawers, Paul (September 18, 2018). "Automation software platform UiPath raises $225 million from CapitalG, Sequoia, and Accel at $3 billion valuation". VentureBeat. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  35. ^ Miller, Ron (January 17, 2017). "Zoom video conferencing service raises $100 million from Sequoia on billion-dollar valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  36. ^ Shen, Lucinda (February 25, 2021). "Sequoia Capital raises $195 million for its newest seed fund". Fortune. Retrieved October 11, 2021. In 2019 and 2020, Sequoia made more investments in the companies at that stage than in Series A investments.
  37. ^ Boland, Hannah (March 10, 2020). "Silicon Valley's Sequoia poaches Accel partner for London office". The Telegraph. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  38. ^ Boland, Hannah (2020-08-06). "Silicon Valley's Sequoia searching for West End office". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  39. ^ Novet, Jordan (2020-03-05). "Venture firm Sequoia is sounding the alarm about the economy again as coronavirus spreads". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  40. ^ "R.I.P. Good Times". Sequoia Capital. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  41. ^ "Sequoia Capital's 56 Slide Presentation Of Doom". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  42. ^ Shen, Lucinda (March 19, 2021). "The careful distinction Sequoia Capital makes in its Black Swan follow-up". Fortune. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  43. ^ Heim, Anna; Wilhelm, Alex (July 29, 2021). "Why Latin American venture capital is breaking records this year". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  44. ^ Sangion, Ricardo (August 30, 2021). "Foreign investors have a bigger role to play in growing Latin America's startup ecosystem". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  45. ^ Fleischmann, Isabela (July 20, 2021). "Sequoia leads $1 million Seed extension in Argentina's Pomelo". LABS. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  46. ^ a b Primack, Dan (October 26, 2021). "Scoop: Sequoia Capital just blew up the VC fund model". Axios. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  47. ^ a b c Levy, Ari (October 26, 2021). "Iconic VC firm Sequoia is breaking from the venture capital model to hold public stocks longer". CNBC. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  48. ^ Matney, Lucas (October 26, 2021). "Sequoia dramatically revamps its fund structure as it looks to rethink venture capital model". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 8, 2021. Gone are the 10-year return cycles, which often pushed investors to liquidate holdings in public companies based on set timelines rather than determinations of when investments had fully matured. Sequoia says that investments will no longer have 'expiration dates;' instead, Sequoia will recycle returns from startup bets back into its central fund which it will redeploy into future investments — what the firm calls a 'continuous feedback loop.'
  49. ^ Schubarth, Cromwell (October 29, 2021). "Sequoia Capital just flipped the script on VC funds. Here's why and why it matters". Silicon Valley Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved November 8, 2021. By getting away with from the standard 10-year structure, Sequoia will have more leeway to not only invest before those kinds of funds but also to stay in the game long after they arrive.
  50. ^ Thompson, Ben (October 27, 2021). "Sequoia Productive Capital". Stratechery. Retrieved November 9, 2021. Instead of LP's investing in funds that make speculative investments in risky endeavors, Sequoia wants to keep long-term positions in companies that have proven business models and are embarking on the decade (or longer) process of improving their products and expanding their markets to the entire world.
  51. ^ Jin, Berber (October 26, 2021). "Sequoia Overhauls Fund Structure to Hold Public Stocks". The Information. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  52. ^ Clark, Kate (October 22, 2021). "No Longer Just Crypto Curious, Sand Hill Road Investors Get Blockchain Fever". Retrieved November 6, 2021.
  53. ^ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-20/ubisoft-sequoia-china-help-nft-creator-hit-2-billion-valuation. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  54. ^ O’Keeffe, Kate; Somerville, Heather; Jie, Yang (2021-11-12). "U.S. Companies Aid China's Bid for Chip Dominance Despite Security Concerns". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-11-12.

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To recap my last request: I have a financial conflict of interest as I am an employee of Sequoia. Please note that I have retained the first two sentences about Michael Moritz addressing Sequoia's lack of women investing partners, and the sentences about China that were recently added, though I have edited the latter to correct that the entity that made those investments is Sequoia Capital's China unit.

Again, I am hoping editors can review my draft above and implement it if they feel it's an improvement. Please let me know how I can assist. VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 23:34, 21 December 2021 (UTC)Reply

Sorry, it is better but still not suitable. Overly detailed and again a long list of investments. My verdict is again NO. The Banner talk 00:21, 22 December 2021 (UTC)Reply
Thank you for your prompt response. I’m happy to work on another revised draft, though if you could provide more specific feedback about which details you think need to be trimmed, that would help ensure I'm on the right track. As a venture capital firm, investments are an important part of Sequoia’s history. It would be difficult to discuss nearly fifty years of operations without mentioning them. In the latest revision, I removed references to companies that don't have their own Wikipedia articles. The companies that remain (Apple, Alibaba, Oracle, Zoom, etc.) seem very notable, and many are already identified as Sequoia investments in the current article. VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 20:01, 23 December 2021 (UTC)Reply
Why don't you try to halve your proposed text. This is an encyclopedia, full of dry, sourced information. The Banner talk 20:54, 23 December 2021 (UTC)Reply
Thank you again for your feedback, User:The Banner. Below I've posted another edited version that pares back the investment details. Please do note that I have provided citations from reliable outlets for each and every claim, as I'm also aiming for dry and sourced information! VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 22:34, 7 January 2022 (UTC)Reply

Version 3

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This is another updated request for the History section based on additional feedback from The Banner. I have pared back investment details considerably. If you look in my user space (where I've posted my ideas for the whole article), you'll see that information about investments is now contained in the Investments section. For now, though, I'd just like to focus on the History section.

History draft v3
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