Sequoia Capital released a memo on X Wednesday morning titled “The Sequoia of Tomorrow,” revealing significant changes within the firm. It announced the successful raising of approximately $10 billion in new funds. Additionally, the firm will be closing its London office, discontinuing its Arc accelerator and Scouts program, merging its early-stage and growth teams, flattening its partnership structure, and eliminating the traditional Monday partner meeting. While the memo adopts a forward-looking tone, it also reflects a desire to revert to a previous era characterized by a smaller, more focused team centered on Silicon Valley. Sequoia explicitly acknowledges this shift.
The firm describes its exit from a nearly two-decade expansion phase during which it established numerous businesses across various regions, noting that an unintended consequence of this growth was the emergence of hierarchy. Most of the structures being dismantled were developed during this period, under the leadership of Doug Leone, Jim Goetz, and Roelof Botha. Among the most unexpected announcements is the termination of two programs that connected Sequoia closely with emerging founders. The Scouts program, initiated around 2009 and widely emulated across the industry, allowed small investments by founders and operators on behalf of the firm, enabling the identification of deals through individuals with closer ties to promising new entrepreneurs. Notably, Jason Calacanis directed Sequoia to Uber through this program, while Sam Altman introduced Stripe to the firm as a scout. Other early scouts included Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky and Dropbox founders Arash Ferdowsi and Drew Houston.
Launched in March 2022, Arc was Sequoia’s response to Y Combinator, serving as a batch accelerator for pre-seed and seed-stage founders, providing $500,000 to $1 million upfront over several cohorts each year. Both initiatives represented a commitment to early-stage investments and broad geographical reach. Sequoia now states its intention to concentrate more resources on fewer individuals and projects.
The closure of the London office, which opened in 2020, will result in several personnel departures. The memo indicates that the firm no longer perceives a necessity for a local presence, asserting that Europe will continue to produce exceptional founders, whom Sequoia can support from the Bay Area. This development may intensify pressure on founders to relocate to the Bay Area or establish a presence there. Luciana Lixandru, who joined Sequoia from Accel in 2020 as its first partner in Europe, declined an offer to move to San Francisco, stating, “Europe is where my family is, and where I want to build,” on X. She confirmed her status as a partner and her intention to maintain board seats while personally investing in European founders.
For European entrepreneurs, this message may be particularly challenging to accept, especially following Andreessen Horowitz’s closure of its London office last year and Coatue’s planned closure in 2024. While Sequoia did not explicitly state it would cease funding European ventures, it is clear that the firm is reestablishing its focus on the Bay Area as its central hub.
The memo also highlights personnel changes, including the return of Carl Eschenbach, former CEO of Workday, as a full-time partner since March. It mentions the reinvigoration of Doug Leone, referred to as the “GOAT.” Despite the varied terminology used in venture firms, the memo clarifies that there are now seven general partners primarily responsible for Sequoia: Alfred Lin and Pat Grady, who serve as co-stewards, alongside Andrew Reed, Shaun Maguire, Konstantine Buhler, Sonya Huang, and David Cahn, who joined in 2023.
Additional changes are evident as well. Jess Lee, the firm’s first female partner and an early-stage investor who led the Arc program, is no longer listed on Sequoia’s investor page but has transitioned to the role of chief product officer. Stephanie Zahn, who joined Sequoia in 2015, has completely departed the firm, announcing last month her plans to launch her own venture. Sequoia is typically reluctant to sever ties entirely; founder Don Valentine continued to participate in partner meetings for nearly a decade after stepping down. Goetz, who reduced his management responsibilities in 2017, remains featured on the firm’s website, while Botha is an exception, having been unexpectedly voted out as senior steward last fall shortly after an interview with this editor. He severed all ties with Sequoia this summer, coinciding with his appointment to SpaceX’s board.
These changes are bound to create significant ripples within the industry. Nevertheless, they are not entirely out of character for Sequoia, which routinely undergoes iterations, sometimes reverting to previous models. Notably, in 2023, the firm separated from its China and India/Southeast Asia divisions, which became HongShan and Peak XV, concluding a two-decade run as a unified global entity.
The remainder of the memo addresses structural adjustments. It states that the firm will no longer differentiate between “early” and “growth” teams, operating instead as a single entity under a unified mission. Additionally, the traditional Monday partner meeting—a staple at Sequoia and many other firms—has been discontinued, based on the belief that founders operate around the clock and their investors should do the same. This trend may extend beyond Sequoia; during a recent discussion with hinews at Disrupt, the entire Benchmark team suggested they now primarily use Monday meetings for socializing.
Sequoia acknowledges that these changes come with inherent risks. “It is scary to break something that’s already working just fine,” the memo states, adding that it is painful to part ways with valued colleagues. However, it will take time to determine whether these decisions were wise. The memo concludes with a message from Sequoia:
“We live in a world of accelerating change. The best founders reinvent themselves over and over again. We must do the same. It’s been a year since our generational transition. We’ve been busy! We’re no longer evolving the Sequoia of yesterday; we are now building the Sequoia of tomorrow. Here are a few of the changes we’ve made, and what they mean for founders.”
Focus
We are best at high-conviction, highly selective venture capital investing. This is our focus. We have removed much of the complexity associated with the Sequoia Capital Fund, sunset our batch accelerator (Arc) and Scouts programs, and streamlined both operating and investing teams. Putting more energy behind fewer people and things means better support for the founders we back.
One Team
There is no more “Early & Growth.” There is only Sequoia. We are one team, operating under one shared mission. This should make things more seamless for founders as they go from stage to stage.
London
We are closing our London office, which means several people will be leaving Sequoia. This is not about the team – they are excellent. We simply don’t see the need for a local presence. We believe that Europe will continue to produce outlier founders and companies, and that we can continue to provide world-class support from our home base in the Bay Area.
Partners
We are coming out of a ~20 year expansionary phase, during which we built multiple businesses in multiple geos. One unintended side effect was hierarchy; it required real management to run the operating side of our business, and this crept over into the investing team. We’ve made several internal changes that have the effect of flattening the partnership. This allows every partner to flourish, and every founder to receive the full benefit of Team Sequoia – regardless of who your lead partner happens to be.
Firepower
We’ve welcomed two rising stars (Liam and Sonali) and one transcendentally talented founder & operator (Dev). We’ve reunited with a legendary leader (Carl) and reinvigorated the GOAT (Doug). We’ve elevated and empowered killer operators: Hem, Natalie, Rishi, Stacey, and Theresa. We’ve raised ~$10Bn in new funds. Talent and capital are two of the key ingredients in building legendary companies. Our talent density and capital base are stronger than ever.
24/7
There is no more Monday partner meeting cycle. Founders operate 24/7, and so do we. Founders shouldn’t have to adhere to our process – we will do our best to adhere to yours.
Reinventing Ourselves
Some of these changes were obvious. Others less so. Many were hard. It is scary to break something that’s already working just fine, and it is painful to say goodbye to great people. We ask founders to do the right thing even when it is hard, and we are committed to doing the same. Some things remain unchanged. Our mission is to help the daring build legendary companies, from idea to IPO and beyond. Our objective function is not scale, but quality: delivering the best possible returns to LPs, and being the best possible partner to founders.
The Sequoia of Tomorrow
Excellence is a moving target, so we will always be changing. But for now, this is Sequoia. We
