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Thought I would share this talk in 2011 at Stanford by Don Valentine, as he reveals some of the secret sauce in Sequoia's early successes that are missing today in VC (He passed away in 2019). A few key highlights: 1) They focused on markets, not people. Some VCs and angels do well by investing in people, but that was a critical part of Sequoia's success in SV. 2) They focused on systems. They wanted to understand how the pieces fit together. He uses the computer industry as an example, making the point that without memory computers had no value, and without understanding how the system worked, individual products were very high risk. 3) They focused on big markets and big companies, not flips to incumbents. They sold to incumbents of course, but the priority was early stage investing in companies they thought would grow very big markets. They did not attempt to create new markets, but rather exploited weaknesses in existing markets and grew from there. Among many others, they invested early in Apple, Nvidia, and Google. 4) Marketing was second only to engineering skills, but most entrepreneurs they backed were very young and couldn't tell a story. So very early on Sequoia became good at helping small teams in marketing, recruiting, and outsourcing. Now that isn't the model that is well matched to an experienced entrepreneur, but it's a model that worked very well for Sequoia, in part due to their location and intel radars. Those who follow me will realize that I'm often critical of VCs today, in part because many aren't business builders, but rather bubble makers, and lack the experience and knowledge of the majority back when I entered business. VC was a much smaller practice then -- not really even an industry, and much more selective. There was much less group think and herding taking place, very little financial engineering for the purpose of creating bubbles, and almost no pump and dump compared to the last 15 years. I interacted with others at Sequoia earlier on, and didn't know Don, but wish I would have. I visited Stanford just a couple years earlier as part of their VC outreach. Although I wasn't an investor then (unfortunately), I was an early booster to some of the companies they invested in, and for some of the same reasons. If America wants to be competitive moving forward, we need to get back to investing in big new companies in big new markets, not "being whores" (as some have put it) for Big Tech incumbents. Success in markets ultimately requires carefully considering what it requires to create and maintain market health. There is no alternative to creative destruction.

Let's face it, the world of VC is often depicted as a high-stakes chess game played by sharks in tailored suits – endless data crunching, fierce negotiations, and boardroom battles. But here's the secret: VCs have a great sense of humor too! Beneath the surface of serious due diligence and term sheet wrangling lies a reservoir of witty banter, playful jabs, and even the occasional (well-intentioned) prank. Let's delve into one such incident where a Benchmark partner pulled a prank on Travis Kalanick, the founder of Uber. On the day when Kalanick was scheduled to pitch at Benchmark’s office, one partner opened the Uber app and noticed a black car waiting outside Sequoia’s nearby headquarters. In those early days at Uber, black cars were scarce, and the partner guessed that this one had taken Kalanick to pitch at Sequoia, assuming he planned to take the same car from Sequoia to Benchmark. Deciding a prank was in order, and wanting to show Kalanick that he understood his product, the partner tapped on his smartphone and summoned a car. Soon, his screen showed a tiny black icon pulling out of the Sequoia parking lot. Sure enough, Kalanick arrived on foot at Benchmark’s office, sweating and late. That night, Benchmark sent him a gift: a pair of running shoes. The founder was not too full of himself to take a joke. The Benchmark team felt that the chemistry was right with Kalanick, and within a few days, Benchmark presented a term sheet to Kalanick. After a bit of back-and-forth, the partners led Uber’s Series A round, paying $12 million for one-fifth of the equity. #venturecapital #privateequity #investments #startuplife #funatwork #uber #traviskalanick #prank #humor #culture

Its hard for seed stage founders to stomach giving away 35% and STILL be in the wild. Its usually after Seed that you realise: ?? Capital efficiency = offense and defence. 1. Offense to build a sustainable business 2. Defence from l?e?a?k?i?n?g? ownership Because, In the absence of valuation going up, you really are leaking it away. After all, What is the point of working so hard... If it becomes uninteresting to you JUST as things begin to get good? If you truly know your business and its potential... work BACKWARDS. Where will I exit? How much will I own when I do? If today that means - It's looking questionable? Pause & Re-adjust. Otherwise, you will sleep walk into a wall. Credit & thanks to: Asif Ahmed for the Post! *********************************************** Shout to to Robot Mascot for the Graphic ***********************************************

Sequoia Capital’s Product-Market-Fit Framework. Sequoia Capital’s Arc accelerator team put together a?framework?for early-stage founders that outlines 3 ways to reach PMF: 1?? Hair on Fire: You’re solving an obvious but important problem in, likely, a crowded market and do it better than anyone else (example: Zoom, during the pandemic) 2?? Hard Fact: You challenge a conventionally accepted fact and demonstrate an alternative (example: Superhuman). 3?? Future Vision: You skate to where the puck is going. Your customers don’t even realize how much they need your solution until they use it (for example: Tesla). The Arc accelerator team at Sequoia Capital has explained each of these three ways with a case study. This is a must-read guide for all founders... ?? ----- Follow All Chance to learn from more innovative insights.

I love numbers and how they can assist our thinking. The number 7.5 trillion has definitely got me thinking. As you will see in this post from Steve Wall - $7.5 trillion is the amount of cash in the world . Alarmingly, it is also the value of all the inventory in the world ?? ! Knowing there is as much working capital tied up in inventory as there is free cash in the world - that should have us all thinking ?? . ??How can this be ? ??Surely this isn't necessary ? ??What can be done about it ? Good news ... with some precision inventory control that can probably be reduced by 1/3rd . The word PRECISION is there for a reason. We don't want to be aimlessly slashing away at inventory levels or hiding decisions inside black boxes - but taking statistics and economics into account to UNDERSTAND and INFORM where to reduce (or possibly increase and rebalance) inventory.

I am incredibly inspired by and grateful for my teammates at Verse for achieving our first fundraising milestone together: we recently secured $20.5 million in Series A financing led by GV (Google Ventures) ???? ?? with participation from Coatue, CIV, and MCJ Collective. I've been trying to contain my excitement for weeks ?? as am sure are my colleagues now that we can share the good news. I'd like to give a big shout out to the engineering team - Jessica Greenfield, Kaleb Pace, Shawn Toubeau, Brandon Clayton, Ryan Kladar, Ryan Triolo, Yuzhou Jiang, and Mahdi Kohansal - for the speed and precision of every line of code they've written, and to Seyed H. Madaeni, Ph.D., Matt Penfold, Shehzad Wadalawala, Dane McKay, Alison Mickey, Debi Ryan, and Tanner McAuley for leading and driving us on the business front. We'll be on the look out soon for more folks to join us ?? As we used to say at my last job: "We haven't won yet." The path to decarbonization will be a multi-decade, if not multi-generational effort. Verse is just one organization in a constellation of thousands developing real solutions to the climate change problem. Until we achieve net zero emissions at a global scale ?? ?? ?? our mission remains to be done. #software #ai #energy #sustainability #climatechange #startups https://lnkd.in/gG-DEX5x

We’re beyond grateful to the amazing Seattle team at SVB for their insightful workshop on "The State of the Market" for our Catalyst Batch 5 participants. A huge thank you to Kiran M. and Natalie Steck for sharing their expertise and support! In a landscape where VC fundraising seems more like navigating a tightrope, and with female-led companies fighting to claim their rightful share of the investment pie, this session was a much-needed sanity check for the founders going through our fundraising-readiness program. Here are some key takeaways that got us all thinking: 1. VC Focus: VC fundraising is limited, leading to fewer active investors focusing on early-stage companies. Companies getting investment are scalable businesses targeting large markets with clear profitability paths. 2. Female-led Companies: Solo female founders are still capturing a mere 2.1% of total US capital investment in 2023. (We're putting in the work with partners like SVB to change that!). 3. Alternative Capital: The SVB team shared their insight on other forms of capital available to founders, such as venture debt and non-dilutive funding. Funding rounds are taking longer, and it's helpful to access to alternative forms of capital. Despite the challenges in the market, we're grateful that founders have allies like Kiran M. and Natalie Steck guiding the way. ?? Thank you!

My top 3 takeaways from our $7.5M seed round with Accel Coming soon in a template in Chronicle! (Drop a comment below, and I’ll send it to you once it’s ready??) Raising our seed round for Chronicle was an incredible journey. As I reflect on what made our pitch stand out, three key learnings emerged that I believe every founder should keep in mind when crafting their deck: 1?? Company Purpose: Investors want to know why your company exists. We anchored our pitch in a problem that felt relatable and meaningful, then showed how Chronicle would solve it. 2?? Product Story: Your product isn’t just a set of features—it’s the hero of your story. We showcased Chronicle’s journey from idea to a powerful tool that makes stunning stories effortless. 3?? Team Narrative: People bet on people. We didn’t just talk about our product; we highlighted how our team’s passion and experience make us the right people to bring this vision to life. These three pillars formed the heart of our pitch. If you want to dive deeper into how we structured our deck and why it worked, check out my full article in the comments. ?? And don’t forget—comment below to get the Chronicle pitch deck template based on these learnings as soon as it’s live!

Its hard for seed stage founders to stomach giving away 35% and STILL be in the wild. Its usually after Seed that you realise: ?? Capital efficiency = offense and defence. 1. Offense to build a sustainable business 2. Defence from l?e?a?k?i?n?g? ownership Because, In the absence of valuation going up, you really are leaking it away. After all, What is the point of working so hard... If it becomes uninteresting to you JUST as things begin to get good? If you truly know your business and its potential... work BACKWARDS. Where will I exit? How much will I own when I do? If today that means - It's looking questionable? Pause & Re-adjust. Otherwise, you will sleep walk into a wall. *********************************************** Shout to to Robot Mascot for the Graphic *********************************************** If you enjoyed this, repost it for others ? follow me Asif Ahmed or more in the future

Following my #curiosity has always opened doors for me, and this time, it’s led me deeper into the world of Venture Capital I’m so excited to have been selected to join Cohort 8 of the Breaking into Venture Program! ? #VentureCapital is one of the most powerful engines of wealth creation in the 21st century. Yet, the industry does not, by any means, reflect the makeup of the world we live in—both in terms of who receives funding and who holds decision-making roles. ? Black entrepreneurs receive less than 0.5% VC funding (2023). ? Women-led startups receive just 2% of venture capital investment (2023). Black women, at the intersection of these statistics, are the most underrepresented. I knew from the moment I learned about these disparities that I wanted in. I needed to find where I could make a difference in this space. At one point, this world—mostly white, mostly male—felt elusive, but I’m here now, ready to be part of the change. Looking forward to bringing my unique perspective into this space, knowing there's still much work to be done. Thank you, BLCK VC, for leading the charge, creating these opportunities, and allowing me to be part of the legacy! ?? #VCCommunity #FutureVCLeaders #EmergingVCs