Acquired

Special: Sequoia Capital's Investment Playbook (with Alfred Lin)

Feb 1, 2021

Alfred Lin, Partner at Sequoia Capital, shares insights from nearly five decades of the firm's investment strategies. He discusses the importance of a prepared mindset for evaluating markets, illustrated by case studies of Airbnb and DoorDash. Lin emphasizes the balance between structured thinking and creativity in identifying opportunities. He also highlights key traits Sequoia looks for in potential hires, underscoring the value of learning from success and failure in venture capital.

55:56

Creator website

Episode guests

Alfred Lin

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Invest for Tomorrow, Hold for Today

01:28

The Importance of Timing in the Success of Instacart and DoorDash

01:06

Navigate Nuance for Profitability

01:43

Sequoia Founders - What's the Story?

01:25

Intro

2min

Innovations in Venture Capital and Research

5min

The Importance of a Prepared Mind in Investment Strategy

5min

Navigating Investment Landscapes

23min

Strategies of Sequoia Capital

16min

Key Attributes for Success in Venture Capital

2min

Harnessing Expert Insights for Investment Success

2min

We cover Sequoia Capital a lot on this show. Not only across our now four(!) dedicated episodes, but across a stunning nearly 50% of recent season companies where Sequoia was a primary or only investor — the most of any venture firm by an enormous margin. Today in this very special episode, we dive into the principles that have led to the firm's 49 years of unparalleled success in venture, and the playbook behind how they identify markets and companies that create outcomes worthy of the firm's namesake tree.

Sponsors:

Anrok: https://bit.ly/anrokacquired
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24
Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acqclaude

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The Sequoia Capital Playbook is available on our website at https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/special-sequoia-capitals-investment-playbook-with-alfred-lin

Links:

Our two-part Sequoia history:
- Part I: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/sequoia-capital-part-1
- Part II: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/sequoia-capital-part-ii-with-doug-leone
Don Valentine's talk at Stanford GSB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKN-abRJMEw&t=2555s
Our conversation about Sequoia's Black Swan Memo with Roelof Botha: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/sequoias-black-swan-memo

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