Assertion Supported AI assessment confidence: 90% certainty 4/5 debate potential 2/5

Sequoia pulled backing from Chipshot before its 2000 IPO, triggering bankruptcy

Kass Lazerow · The 'messy' path to start-up success (with Kass & Mike Lazerow from SXSW) | Masters of Scale · Mar 21, 2025 · at 3:01

Kass Lazerow, co-founder of Golf.com and Buddy Media, recounts how Golf.com's acquirer Chipshot suddenly went bankrupt right before the dot-com crash.

0:00 / 0:16exact quote · 16.2s

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“And basically he said that Sequoia, who had backed them to go public, had pulled out. And there was no more filing, and they were going bankrupt, and we would, they'd be out of business in two weeks, and they had no more money to pay anything for us. Nothing for payroll. Nothing.”

quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →

The claim, plainly

In March 2000, Sequoia Capital pulled its backing from custom golf club maker Chipshot ahead of its planned IPO, triggering Chipshot's collapse and bankruptcy.

a quote alone can be ambiguous, so this restates it with the references and context of the conversation around it resolved. AI-written; the tape below the player is the source.

Assessment

Historical reporting and contemporaneous records confirm all core assertions of the claim. Sequoia Capital led Series A funding for Chipshot.com in 1998 and backed the company as it planned a spring 2000 initial public offering (including acquiring Golf.com in late 1999/early 2000). When public and private market conditions collapsed in March-April 2000 during the dot-com crash, venture backing and bridge financing were withdrawn, halting IPO plans and forcing Chipshot to drastically downsize before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2000.

Forbes (October 1999) and contemporaneous CNET reporting (October 2000) confirm Sequoia Capital was a primary venture backer of Chipshot.com as it prepared for a spring 2000 IPO.
Following the March 2000 market downturn, follow-on venture support collapsed, leading Chipshot to downsize from ~200 employees to ~7.
Chipshot.com filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California in September 2000 due to dried-up capital markets.

Checked against

[1] forbes.com [2] economictimes.com [3] jh.edu [4] tidemarkcap.com [5] cnet.com [6] mehtaphysical.com [7] adammendler.com [8] exitparadox.com

Chipshot com Sequoia Capital March 2000 IPO bankruptcy "Chipshot.com" "March 2000" OR "April 2000" Chipshot com bankruptcy Sequoia Capital 2000 "Chipshot.com" IPO "2000" "Chipshot.com" "Sequoia" "1999" OR "2000" "Chipshot" "Brian Sroub" "Sequoia" "Chipshot.com" "Sequoia Capital" "bankruptcy" "Chipshot.com" "Sequoia" IPO "Chipshot" "Golf.com" "1999" OR "2000"

assessed as of 2026-08-27

This assessment is an AI reading of a public statement, made against the cited references with the confidence shown. It can be wrong. The quote, the tape and the references are all on this page; if something is off, use report an error below. full disclaimer →

Mentioned

Chipshot Golf.com Sequoia

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Sequoia pulled backing from Chipshot before its 2000 IPO, triggering bankruptcy

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