Andrew Reed
- Growth
Founders are human beings. They have senses of humor, diverse interests, ups and downs. And so do I. I try to meet them as people, and talk about everything—not just how the quarter is going.
Backstory
I joined Sequoia in 2014. I had some depth on the quantitative side of investing, but I had so much to learn about founders, teams, products and company-building. I saw in Sequoia the chance to work with the best investors and best founders in the world, and I get to do that every day now.
I have a strong belief in the global opportunity for founders and startups. The legendary companies of this generation will start all over the world, and scale all over the world too. Even before I joined, I appreciated Sequoia’s global mindset, willingness to take risks, and scale of ambition. I work with founders in places as far afield as Tallinn, Estonia (Bolt), Bogota, Colombia (Rappi), not to mention many remote companies that are scaling on the Internet (Zapier, Loom, Sourcegraph).
Back in 2014, I knew I loved investing. I didn’t realize how much I’d love working with founders. I am often amazed by the capabilities of the founders I get to work with, and the way my relationships with those founders grow and strengthen with time. I pride myself on trusted dialogue, direct communication, an open network and fast email response times. References available upon request.
On the lookout for
I don’t define my interests by sector. I’ve worked with companies building everything from design tools to open source software to fintech apps to digital health to global ride-hailing and food delivery. But there are two common threads:
First, and most important is the founding team. Regardless of stage, that’s where everything starts. I look for people who have the horsepower to solve hard problems, the determination and ambition to build an enduring company for the long term, and the ability to explain a future and make it seem inevitable. I also look for people I trust. The best founders—when given the right set of inputs—tend to make the right decisions. Our job is to make sure those inputs are there.
The second common thread is a focus on quality and craftsmanship. When I evaluate a company, I talk to users, try the product, look at job postings, API docs, support forums—not just the slide deck and financials. Great companies have a consistency of design and experience that permeates the entire organization and every interaction with their customers, users, prospects and developers. Attention to detail is important to me.
What I don’t care about is traditional pedigree. I work with some founders that have multiple degrees, and another that never graduated high school. I care about performance, ethics, clarity of thought, teamwork, ambition—and will to win.
Get in touch with AndrewPersonal Side
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Press & Media
Companies
Current Companies
Company Name | Short Description | Current Stage | Founders | First Partnered | collapse |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bolt | Bolt is a European mobility platform for ridesharing, scooter rentals and food delivery. | Growth |
| Growth (2021) | Collapse |
Chainguard | Chainguard helps organizations secure their software supply chains through products, tooling, and education. | Early |
| Early (2022) | Collapse |
ElevenLabs | ElevenLabs is a Voice AI research and deployment company making content universally accessible in any language and voice. | Growth |
| Growth (2023) | Collapse |
Figma | Figma is the first web-based collaborative design tool. | Growth |
| Growth (2019) | Collapse |
Front | Front is a communication hub for building strong customer relationships. | Growth |
| Growth (2017) | Collapse |
Harmonic | Harmonic is building a state-of-the-art mathematical reasoning engine in pursuit of mathematical superintelligence. | Early |
| Early (2024) | Collapse |
Klarna | Klarna is a payment solution simplifying the purchasing process. | Growth |
| Growth (2010) | Collapse |
Medallion | Medallion is a workflow automation company for healthcare that offers licensing and credentialing. | Growth |
| Growth (2021) | Collapse |
Papaya | Papaya makes paying bills as easy as snapping a photo. | Growth |
| Early (2018) | Collapse |
Productboard | Productboard is a product-management system that helps organizations build the right products. | Growth |
| Growth (2019) | Collapse |
Rappi | Rappi is an on-demand delivery platform for Latin America. | Growth |
| Early (2016) | Collapse |
Rec Room | Rec Room is a cross platform digital third place for kids at heart. | Growth |
| Pre-Seed/Seed (2016) | Collapse |
Snapdocs | Snapdocs is a digital mortgage closing platform. | Growth |
| Early (2017) | Collapse |
Sourcegraph | Sourcegraph is a universal code search tool. | Growth |
| Growth (2020) | Collapse |
Strava | Strava is the world's social network for athletes. | Growth |
| Growth (2014) | Collapse |
Tourlane | Tourlane is an online booking platform for custom multiday trips. | Growth |
| Early (2018) | Collapse |
Vanta | Vanta automates and simplifies security and compliance. | Growth |
| Growth (2021) | Collapse |
Warp | Warp is a Rust-based terminal with AI built in so teams can build great software, faster. | Growth |
| Growth (2022) | Collapse |
Zapier | Zapier's software makes automation easy for everyone. | Growth |
| Growth (2020) | Collapse |
Enduring Companies
Company Name | Short Description | Current Stage | Founders | First Partnered | collapse |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
GitHub | GitHub is the system of record for code. | Acquired |
| Growth (2015) | Collapse |
Loom | Loom, now part of Atlassian, is a workplace collaboration tool that allows for instant sharing of videos. | Acquired |
| Growth (2019) | Collapse |
Robinhood | Robinhood lets anyone invest in the stock market for free. | IPO |
| Growth (2018) | Collapse |
Sumo Logic | Sumo Logic is a cloud-native continuous intelligence platform. | IPO |
| Growth (2014) | Collapse |