Talk:Sequoia Capital
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History section request[edit]
This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest was declined. |
Hello Wikipedia editors. I work with Sequoia Capital and am hoping to work with all of you to update the information in the article. I should say, I think most of the content here is really good, but some of the specific numbers are out-of-date and other passages feel like they could be further developed. Because I have a COI, I will refrain from making any edits myself and will post all my requests here on the Talk page so editors can review them and make sure they align with Wikipedia guidelines. I am new to this site, so I am very open to any suggestions you may have about how to succeed here.
To begin with, I'd like to address the History section, which is very short right now and does not present a full picture of Sequoia's development over the last five decades. I have put together a revised section that splits History into several subsections and provides additional details about each period.
History draft
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History[edit]Early history and investments[edit]Sequoia was founded by Don Valentine in 1972 in Menlo Park, California,[1][2] at a time when the state’s venture capital industry was just beginning to develop.[3][4] Valentine named the firm after the redwood trees that grow in Northern California and are known for their strength and longevity.[5][6] Sequoia formed its first venture capital fund in 1974,[3][7] and was an early investor in Atari the next year.[5][8][9] In 1978, Sequoia became one of the first investors in Apple.[8][6][10] In the 1980s, Electronic Arts and Sierra Semiconductor both incubated in the Sequoia offices.[10][11] Sequoia was an early investor in Oracle in 1983, six years after the company was founded, and also invested in Cisco in 1987.[12][13][5] Partners Doug Leone and Michael Moritz assumed leadership of the firm in 1996.[5][14] Global expansion[edit]In 1999, Sequoia established a dedicated investment fund for Israeli startups,[15] and the firm expanded its operations further into global markets in the early 2000s.[3] In 2005, Sequoia Capital China was established.[16] In 2006, Sequoia Capital expanded to India with the acquisition of Westbridge Capital Partners, an Indian venture capital firm.[17] This acquisition eventually became Sequoia Capital India.[17] Notable investments have included CloudShare and Snaptu in Israel,[3][18] Alibaba and Meituan in China,[3][19][20] and Byju and Ola in India.[3][21][22] 2010s[edit]In 2012, Moritz took a step back from the day-to-day operations of the firm after being diagnosed with an unspecified illness.[23] Leone became Global Managing Partner.[24][25] Jim Goetz led Sequoia’s US business from 2012 until 2017, when he was succeeded by Roelof Botha.[26] Botha has led Sequoia’s investments in YouTube, Square, 23andMe, and Unity Technologies, among others.[27][28][29] In 2015, Michael Moritz was questioned about Sequoia's lack of any women investing partners. Moritz argued that there were few qualified female candidates, because American women "tend to elect not to study the sciences when they’re 11 or 12", and said that Sequoia would not "lower our standards" to hire women.[30] In 2016, Sequoia hired Jess Lee, making her the first female investing partner in the United States in the firm's 44-year history.[31][32] Notable investments in the late 2010s included Figma,[33] UiPath,[34] and Zoom.[35] In 2019, Sequoia made more new seed-stage investments than Series A deals.[36] 2020 to present[edit]In March 2020, Sequoia announced it would hire Luciana Lixandru as its first partner based in Europe.[37][38] On March 5, 2020, Sequoia Capital sent a notice to its portfolio companies warning that the global economy could be restrained by the coronavirus, and urging these companies to “question every assumption about your business."[39]Cite error: A In July 2021, Sequoia published a piece about "the Latin American startup opportunity" that signaled it would increase its focus there.[43][44] The firm previously invested in regional unicorns Nubank and Rappi.[45] In October 2021, Sequoia announced The Sequoia Fund, a new fund structure for its U.S. and European business.[46][47] The Sequoia Fund is an open-ended capital vehicle for all future Sequoia sub-funds.[46][47] This new structure enables Sequoia to remain involved with and invested in companies after their public market debuts.[48][49][50] Sequoia also announced it was registering as an investment advisor, providing flexibility for the firm to invest in more crypto assets and secondary stock.[47][51] A quarter of Sequoia’s new investments in 2021 were crypto-related.[52] Also in October 2021, Sequoia Capital China participated in a US$65 million funding round in Animoca.[53] In November 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported that Sequoia Capital’s China unit is a major investor in Chinese semiconductor firms, raising U.S. national security concerns.[54] References
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To recap my last request: I have a financial conflict of interest as I am an employee of Sequoia. Please note that I have retained the first two sentences about Michael Moritz addressing Sequoia's lack of women investing partners, and the sentences about China that were recently added, though I have edited the latter to correct that the entity that made those investments is Sequoia Capital's China unit.
Again, I am hoping editors can review my draft above and implement it if they feel it's an improvement. Please let me know how I can assist. VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 23:34, 21 December 2021 (UTC)
- Sorry, it is better but still not suitable. Overly detailed and again a long list of investments. My verdict is again NO. The Banner talk 00:21, 22 December 2021 (UTC)
- Thank you for your prompt response. I’m happy to work on another revised draft, though if you could provide more specific feedback about which details you think need to be trimmed, that would help ensure I'm on the right track. As a venture capital firm, investments are an important part of Sequoia’s history. It would be difficult to discuss nearly fifty years of operations without mentioning them. In the latest revision, I removed references to companies that don't have their own Wikipedia articles. The companies that remain (Apple, Alibaba, Oracle, Zoom, etc.) seem very notable, and many are already identified as Sequoia investments in the current article. VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 20:01, 23 December 2021 (UTC)
- Why don't you try to halve your proposed text. This is an encyclopedia, full of dry, sourced information. The Banner talk 20:54, 23 December 2021 (UTC)
- Thank you for your prompt response. I’m happy to work on another revised draft, though if you could provide more specific feedback about which details you think need to be trimmed, that would help ensure I'm on the right track. As a venture capital firm, investments are an important part of Sequoia’s history. It would be difficult to discuss nearly fifty years of operations without mentioning them. In the latest revision, I removed references to companies that don't have their own Wikipedia articles. The companies that remain (Apple, Alibaba, Oracle, Zoom, etc.) seem very notable, and many are already identified as Sequoia investments in the current article. VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 20:01, 23 December 2021 (UTC)
- Thank you again for your feedback, User:The Banner. Below I've posted another edited version that pares back the investment details. Please do note that I have provided citations from reliable outlets for each and every claim, as I'm also aiming for dry and sourced information! VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 22:34, 7 January 2022 (UTC)
Version 3[edit]
This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered. |
This is another updated request for the History section based on additional feedback from The Banner. I have pared back investment details considerably. If you look in my user space (where I've posted my ideas for the whole article), you'll see that information about investments is now contained in the Investments section. For now, though, I'd just like to focus on the History section.
History draft v3
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Notable investments request[edit]
Hello again Wikipedia editors. I have a new request for a Notable investments subsection to replace (and rename) the current Recent investments one. I appreciate editors wanting to note some of the firm’s investments, which is likely why the Recent investments was added, however the existing list is inaccurate as is. For instance, several of the investments are not Sequoia Capital investments, but investments by the separate entities Sequoia Capital India or Sequoia Capital China, so it is confusing at best and misleading to list them all together as Sequoia Capital investments. I’ve put together an accurate list of the firm’s notable investments that editors can use to update the section. Any of the investments I’ve listed below would be appropriate to include, I suggested about 20 but editors can include as many as they feel is appropriate. For ease of reference, I’ve organized them by decade and I’ve included citations to reliable sources.
As with my previous request, I am hoping editors can review what I've put together above and implement if they feel it's an improvement. I am happy to answer any questions about content and sources. VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 21:21, 1 March 2022 (UTC)
Introduction request[edit]
Hello Wikipedia editors. I am back with a new request for a revised Introduction section. My understanding is that the Introduction is supposed to summarize the main content from the article, so that's what I've tried to do here:
This version lists the same number of notable investments as the current intro, but I've only included companies that are mentioned in the body of the article. As with my previous request, I am hoping editors can review what I've put together above and implement if they feel it's an improvement. VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 20:57, 1 April 2022 (UTC)
Senior leadership request[edit]
Hello again Wikipedia editors. Back in early April, an editor [1] added a new section called Senior leadership that details changes in the firm's leadership over time. I can understand how this information might be useful to readers, but the way it's currently framed is inaccurate. As the cited source (Financial Times) specifies, “Sequoia has dropped the global managing partner title that had been given to predecessors, with Botha instead becoming Sequoia’s ‘senior steward’.” Given this, it isn’t accurate to list out "senior stewards" going back to Don Valentine. I've put together a suggested revision that clarifies this and corrects the other inaccuracy (namely that Roelof Botha represents the third transition in Sequoia’s leadership, not the third generation as this would actually be the fourth generation), and adds an additional source since the cited FT article is behind a paywall:
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