7 weeks, 7 short stories – Sequoia Arc

One year ago, me and 32 other European founders endeavored on an unknown journey called Sequoia Arc.

The idea: Take everything Sequoia Capital learned from legendary companies like Apple, Airbnb and Instagram, and share it with outlier early stage founders through a catalyst program.

We were class #1.

Their applications are now open for the next class of Europe’s outlier founders.

Here are 7 short stories from 7 weeks that will hopefully inspire you to apply for arguably the best early-stage funding program in the world.

Week 1/7 Outliers

Caution: Some serious imposter syndrome incoming. From Sequoia's team, to the guest speakers, to the wonderful founders you meet. These people will raise your bar like nothing else. On every investor you meet, talent you interview, or goal you set.

2/7 Customer

Bento 's founders don’t play around: we had an intimate chat with none other than Instagram’s co-founder Mike Krieger. Mugeeb Hassan and Sélim Benayat used the opportunity to show him an early version of Bento on the spot.

3/7 Product

I got to sit down with Alfred, who I’ve been admiring for a decade. We talked about what challenges we’re facing building Twain . Back then my questions were on pricing & positioning. He provided invaluable advice that we baked into our product roadmap.

4/7 Sales & Marketing

“Whatever you can think of, we tried.” Like all incredible stories, Klarna’s marketing success is based on experimentation. Listening to them, I realized: Performance marketeers learned to experiment ages ago, so why don't sales teams experiment more? Now, Twain will for them.

5/7 Culture

Before you hire your first employee, before you win your first customer, before you ship your first product: define your culture. No tool can help you navigate hard problems more. Calliper ’s culture map was incredible to see. It was the first thing they built!

6/7 Business

Bryan shared the idea of “the startup of you”: to grow our startup, we have to grow first. Little did I know, he will be the one helping me grow. All big decisions I made last year, he helped me get there. Your Sequoia partner elevates you. Eventually, you elevate your business.

7/7 Bend the Arc

Hiring the world’s best talent will be your #1 goal after the program ends. It’s not raising money that matters to your success, it’s incredible talent joining you. To achieve that, week 7 focused on making you a world-class story teller.

Now, it’s time to apply and tell Sequoia your story ??

https://www.sequoiacap.com/arc/