This is the story of Don Valentine, a person that up until his recent death in 2019 helped shape the venture capital industry like no one else. His firm Sequoia was an early investor in the likes of Apple, Cisco, WhatsApp, Airbnb, Zoom, LinkedIn, PayPal and Google among others throughout its 50-year history. It’s investments are now worth trillions of dollars in public market value.
Chapter overview:
0:00 It’s all about winning
1:25 Don Valentine and the Silicon (Valley) industry
5:55 Becoming an angel investor
9:30 Starting a legendary company: Sequoia Capital
11:36 Secret ground rules for successful investing
14:35 The Sequoia Cisco deal led by Don Valentine
17:28 The ultimate Don Valentine tribute
18:30 Try not to cry