Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital is one of the most successful venture capital firms in history, with early investments in Apple, Google, Airbnb, Stripe, and WhatsApp. They invest across all stages from seed to growth.
Updated March 2026
What founders need to know
Sequoia has arguably the best track record of any VC firm in history. Their portfolio includes Apple, Google, Oracle, Cisco, Yahoo, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, Airbnb, Stripe, DoorDash, and Zoom - companies that collectively represent trillions of dollars in market value. What separates Sequoia from other top-tier firms is not just picking winners but getting in early: they led the seed round in Stripe, the Series A in Airbnb, and were early investors in Google before it had meaningful revenue.
Sequoia restructured in 2022 from a traditional fund structure to a single permanent capital vehicle called the Sequoia Fund. This means they no longer have fixed fund lifecycles that pressure portfolio companies to exit on a timeline. For founders, this is significant - Sequoia can hold investments through IPO and beyond, reducing the pressure to sell prematurely. They also launched Sequoia Arc, a program for pre-seed founders, signaling their interest in the earliest stages of company building.
Getting a meeting with Sequoia is extremely competitive. They see thousands of deals per year and fund roughly 20-30 new companies. The most reliable path is a warm introduction from a Sequoia portfolio founder or an executive at a Sequoia-backed company. Cold outreach rarely works at this level. Their partners specialize by sector - Roelof Botha focuses on fintech, Pat Grady on enterprise software, Jess Lee on consumer - so targeting the right partner matters enormously.
Investment focus
Technology broadly: enterprise software, consumer internet, fintech, healthcare technology, AI/ML, crypto. Sequoia invests across every major technology category but has historically been strongest in enterprise software and consumer internet.
Investment stages and check sizes
Stages: Seed, Series A, Series B, Growth
Typical check size: Seed: $500K-$2M, Series A: $5M-$15M, Growth: $50M+
Notable portfolio companies
- Apple
- Airbnb
- Stripe
- Zoom
- DoorDash
- Nubank
- Unity
- Instacart
What they look for in founders
Sequoia famously asks founders to articulate their company in a single sentence. Their investment criteria center on three things: market size (they want businesses that can become very large), founder quality (domain expertise, relentlessness, ability to recruit), and what they call "earned secrets" - unique insights about a market that competitors do not have. They are particularly drawn to founders who have personally experienced the problem they are solving and can articulate why now is the right time for this product to exist.
Frequently asked questions
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