Leone: Seed investing is simply backing smart people in interesting areas
Doug Leone · 20VC: Sequoia's Doug Leone on What Has Been Instrumental To Scaling Sequoia Over Generations, How Sequoia Think About International Expansion and What They Learned From China and India & Why When You Lose Pre-Seed You Become Private Equity · Sep 14, 2021 · at 26:41
Doug Leone, Global Managing Partner at Sequoia Capital, argues that seed investors should keep a broad aperture rather than overanalyzing early-stage business models.
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“What is seed investing is a smart person in a generally interesting area. That's it. There's no need to overthink it because they're going to zig and zag in ways that you can't predict.”
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More from Doug Leone
Leone: Fast-paced funds doing five deals a week cannot build companies
“Product market fit is yours. We do everything else. You cannot do what we do if you're investing in five deals a week. There's no way to do that.”
Doug Leone: High-velocity VCs cannot provide genuine company-building support
“You cannot do what we do if you're investing in five deals a week. There's no way to do that.”
Leone: High-performing organizations must operate as teams, not families
“In order to perform, we can't be a family. We all have family members we're stuck with. I know your family. I'm willing to bet you can point to a family members that is going to be a family member forever and is not a performer. I know we have a few in our fam…”
Leone: Sequoia partners wanted to fire him after 24 months
“I will tell you there were people who wanted me out at Sequoia Capital after 24 months, and it was only through the good graces and good judgment I now say from Don Valentine that I'm still here.”
Leone: VCs cannot help founders achieve product-market fit
“If you can't get product market fit, I doubt Sequoia Capital or any one of us can help. That is the black magic. That is really the art. Once you get product market fit, we can help you with everything else.”
Leone: Broad late-stage venture investing will cause severe investor losses
“As you move down the funnel, venture, growth, pre-IPO, the checks get larger. The valuations get a lot higher. And the further down you come, the better you have to get up picking them. And if you go broad there, you're going to get stung.”