The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
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Wang: SCGE goes long Nvidia and shorts moatless server hardware stocks
“We can go long NVIDIA and then we can short a bunch of the companies that I think don't have the depth of modes that NVIDIA has.”
Wang: Chinese companies have become less transparent over time
“It is, it has been more difficult for us to say invest in Chinese companies. And it's not just the macro, right? It's. It's these companies have been become less transparent with us over time.”
Wang: Only one-third of SCGE's portfolio consists of Sequoia venture companies
“So there is a portion of our business that, our portfolio that is Prior or existing Sequoia portfolio companies, right? That's maybe about a third of the portfolio”
Wang: SCGE is prioritizing public markets over privates due to deal quality
“And so right now, for example, we do not see for SCGE as many opportunities in the private markets And so most of our attention is actually on the public markets.”
Wang: SCGE held Twilio too long, missing out on legendary returns
“So Twilio initially was a very good investment for us and actually ended up being a decent investment overall. It could have been a legendary investment. We held on for too long.”
Wang: SCGE takes carry once every three years instead of annually
“We have also a three-year incentive crystallization. And so what that means is most hedge funds, as you probably know, just take carry at the end of each calendar year. We take carry once every three years, and we also vest ourselves over a three year period.”
Wang: SCGE internal employee surveys turned 'downright awful' in 2022
“The initial, I'd say right post COVID, the surveys were very positive. You know, everyone's super happy. You know, everyone's feeling fulfilled. They're doing good work. And then you can see the surveys just getting worse and worse. And then in 20, 22, they're…”
Wang: SCGE allocates 70% of research to themes, 30% to companies
“For us, 70% of our research process is actually up front on the theme, and only 30% on the actual company.”
Wang: SCGE manages $9B across two-thirds public and one-third private investments
“We had fifty million of internal capital. We now manage about nine billion of mostly external LP capital, but that internal capital amount is also now about a billion. The portfolio is about two thirds public and then one third private. And that one third priv…”
Wang: SCGE shorts companies to express long-side disruptive themes, not find fraud
“So we are not looking for frauds. We're not looking for valuation arbitrage. We're looking to further express a disruptive thematic viewpoint that we hold on the long side, albeit on the short side.”
Wang: Shopify is one of SCGE's biggest winning investments
“So Shopify is has been one of our biggest winners. It is also one of my bigger regrets in terms of post COVID.”
Wang: SCGE assigns separate partners as devil's advocates on controversial deals
“One thing that we will do is we will have a fresh underwrite from a different partner where you have a devil's advocate position.”
Wang: SCGE originally invested in non-tech assets including ports and airlines
“Gone were the days of investing in lodging companies, port infrastructure. We even invested in an airline miles program.”
Wang: Disregarding Google at Stanford taught me not to underestimate disruption
“Probably not taking Google more seriously. So I was at Stanford at the time of its founding. I was even a section leader for Marissa Mayer for a computer science class where she was a lecturer. And so I heard about it from her too. And I just thought to myself…”
Jeff Wang took a 70% pay cut to join SCGE in 2010
“On the flip side though I was taking a 70% pay cut and there was a real risk of failure, right? Most hedge fund launches don't survive.”
Wang: SCGE re-underwrites every portfolio position during quarterly reviews
“And so one of the things that we do is we have a quarterly review of the entire portfolio where we do a re underwrite of every single position, because unlike the venture world, we can buy and sell.”
Wang: Sequoia missed Shopify in private markets and first invested post-IPO
“Shopify was not a Sequoia portfolio company. It's a company that we admired in the private markets, but we did not invest in the private markets. And our first chance to invest is when they go public, right?”