As we launch our latest seed fund, Sequoia partners George Robson, Stephanie Zhan, Bogomil Balkansky, Shaun Maguire, Josephine Chen and Konstantine Buhler share what drives their passion for meeting seed-stage founders, what they look for in ideas and companies, and what to expect from initial conversations with Sequoia.

George Robson

What do you love about partnering with seed-stage founders?

They say it takes a village to raise a child, and the same is often true for companies. The seed stage is about creating something from nothing, against the odds — and in doing so, quickly answering tough questions about the market, your…

By Roelof Botha on behalf of Team Sequoia

A couple years ago, in the midst of Charlotte, North Carolina’s ongoing real-estate boom, a woman named Dow found a house she knew would be perfect for her, her partner Eric, and their 10-year-old son. But when she applied for a loan she got some heartbreaking news: her credit score wasn’t high enough to qualify for the loan they would need. As prices rose daily, she worried her longtime dream of homeownership was slipping away.

Then Dow heard about a company called Landis, launched by co-founders Cyril Berdugo and Tom Petit. She…

By Jess Lee and Alfred Lin on behalf of Team Sequoia

“There are just some people that you would hire on the spot, no matter the job. People that are unstoppable. That’s Helen.” — Dr. David Lawlor, surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and Helen Mayer’s mentor in high school and college

When we first met Otter founder Helen Mayer last fall, she shared her vision of reinventing childcare via an ambitious strategy document. Just six months later, when we caught up again, that idea had leapt from paper to reality. A team of one, Helen had single-handedly matched 7000 families…

De Sonya Huang e Doug Leone

Há pouco mais de uma década, um jovem estudante brilhante de MBA em Stanford entrou nos escritórios da Sequoia em Sand Hill Road e expressou com entusiasmo a oportunidade para startups na América Latina. O aluno era David Vélez. Ficamos imediatamente impressionados com a presença, ambição e inteligência de David e o contratamos para traçar um caminho para a Sequoia na América Latina.

Tendo crescido na Colômbia, David compreendeu visceralmente a oportunidade na América Latina: embora a economia real estivesse repleta de problemas, a economia digital tinha um enorme potencial, apoiada por algumas das…

Por Sonya Huang y Doug Leone

Hace poco más de una década, un joven estudiante brillante de master en administración de empresas de Stanford ingresó a las oficinas de Sequoia en Sand Hill Road y expresó fervientemente la oportunidad para las empresas emergentes en América Latina. Ese estudiante era David Vélez. La presencia, la ambición y la inteligencia de David nos cautivaron de inmediato y lo contratamos para trazar un curso para Sequoia en América Latina.

Habiendo crecido en Colombia, David comprendía visceralmente la oportunidad futura en América Latina: mientras que la economía real estaba plagada de problemas, la economía…

By Matt Miller on behalf of Team Sequoia

Jay Kreps, Neha Narkhede, Jun Rao and the team at Confluent are responsible for one of the most important trends in technology today: harnessing the power of data in motion.

Historically, most data has been processed in batches — first collected, then saved and transformed, and finally queried. While working to find a way to seamlessly integrate many sources and uses of data, Jay, Neha and Jun saw an opportunity to also process that data while in motion. This innovation would save valuable time and empower better decisions to be made in…

By Ravi Gupta on behalf of Team Sequoia

When I first encountered Faire, we were competitors — not for customers, but for talent. I was working at Instacart, and one of our highest-potential team members let me know he was thinking about departing to join Max Rhodes and his team. Ultimately, the employee decided to stay, but I’ve never fought harder to keep someone. In the process, I heard nothing but incredible things about Faire.

My future partners at Sequoia, meanwhile, had been believers from the start, recognizing Max’s visionary idea and partnering with Faire at the seed in 2017…

By Luciana Lixandru and George Robson on behalf of Team Sequoia

For far too long, small businesses in Europe have been underserved when it comes to software tools to manage their finances. European SMEs are still living in a world where they save paper receipts in a box and diligently send them to their trusted advisor — the accountant — at the end of each month. They live in a world where they run their business without visibility into what comes in and what goes out, and where accountants spend too much of their valuable time calling and emailing to…