Leone: Boards must honor signed term sheets over higher late offers
Doug Leone · How to Dominate for Decades | Doug Leone, Sequoia Capital · Aug 30, 2026 · at 56:46
Doug Leone explains why Sequoia-backed portfolio boards must honor signed venture term sheets despite post-signing higher bids.
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“A term sheet is not worth the paper it's written on, but once you sign it, Both sides, I think you have to honor it. You know, many times we're out, we're, I'm on the board of a company, and we signed a term sheet with an investor, and then three days later, someone's interested in a much higher price. There's no way. There's no way. No, no. We shook somebody's hand. And people say, well, you have a fiduciary duty to take the higher price. No, I have a fiduciary duty to make sure the culture of the company is a clean culture, and we do business the correct way.”
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