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Michael Moritz

  • Seed/Early
  • +
  • Growth
Follow your instincts.

Backstory

When I was trying to break into the venture business in the mid-1980s I went to meet the leaders of six firms. All, bar one, told me they did not know what to do with a history major and journalist who had never worked in a technology company, was poor at math and couldn’t tell a voltage regulator from an amplifier. The exception was Don Valentine to whom I owe the opportunity for joining and, eventually, helping build for approaching forty years, what is now known as Sequoia.

On the lookout for

Curiosity. People who speak in complete sentences about a topic that absorbs them. When we first get involved with a tiny company, nothing is obvious. If you’re looking for certainty, you wind up with bores engaged in mundane activities. We have a fondness for obsessives on a mission. This was the case when we met the founders of what became Yahoo!, PayPal, Google, Klarna and Stripe and we hope it’s true when we meet you.

Get in touch with Michael

Personal Side

  • Giving
  • Reading
  • Writing
  • Painting
  • Cycling

Press & Media

Companies

Current Companies

Company Name  Short Description Current Stage  Founders First Partnered  collapse
[24]7.ai[24]7 helps businesses create a personalized, predictive and effortless customer experience.Growth
  • PV Kannan
  • Shanmugam "Nags" Nagarajan
Early (2003)Collapse
GetirGetir is the pioneer of 10-minute grocery delivery.Growth
  • Serkan Borancılı
  • Mehmed Nazim Salur
  • Tuncay Tütek
Growth (2021)Collapse
InstacartInstacart facilitates instant grocery delivery from local stores.Growth
  • Brandon Leonardo
  • Apoorva Mehta
  • Max Mullen
Early (2013)Collapse
KlarnaKlarna is a payment solution simplifying the purchasing process.Growth
  • Sebastian Siemiatkowski
Growth (2010)Collapse
StravaStrava is the world's social network for athletes.Growth
  • Mark Gainey
  • Michael Horvath
Growth (2014)Collapse
StripeStripe is building an economic infrastructure for the internet.Growth
  • John Collison
  • Patrick Collison
Seed (2010)Collapse
The Wire DigitalThe Wire Digital is helping global businesses make smarter decisions.Early
  • David Barboza
  • Lynn Zhang
Seed (2020)Collapse
TrialSparkTrialSpark is an end-to-end platform for tech-driven drug development.Growth
  • Benjamine Liu
  • Linhao Zhang
Early (2017)Collapse
WatershedWatershed is a software platform that helps companies get to zero carbon fast.Growth
  • Christian Anderson
  • Taylor Francis
  • Avi Itskovich
Early (2020)Collapse

Enduring Companies

Company Name  Short Description Current Stage  Founders First Partnered  collapse
GameFlyGameFly is a video game rental service offering a monthly subscription.Acquired
  • Toby Lenk
  • Sean Spector
Seed (2002)Collapse
GoogleGoogle organizes the world's information.IPO
  • Sergey Brin
  • Larry Page
Growth (1999)Collapse
Green DotGreen Dot builds technology for faster, more efficient electronic payment and money management.IPO
  • Steve Streit
Growth (2003)Collapse
KAYAKKAYAK is a travel meta search that allows easy consolidation of booking receipts into one itinerary.Acquired
  • Paul English
  • Steve Hafner
Growth (2005)Collapse
LinkedInLinkedIn, now part of Microsoft, is a social network for professionals.IPO
  • Reid Hoffman
Early (2003)Collapse
LinkExchangeLinkExchange developed an internet advertising network for SMBs, now part of Microsoft. Acquired
  • Tony Hsieh
  • Ali Partovi
  • Hadi Partovi
Early (1997)Collapse
PayPalPayPal is the digital payment solution behind the digital wallet.IPO
  • Max Levchin
  • Elon Musk
  • Peter Thiel
Growth (1999)Collapse
PhenomeXPhenomeX, formerly Berkeley Lights, takes new approaches to biological processes.IPO
  • Igor Khandros
  • Ming Wu
Growth (2015)Collapse
YahooYahoo is a global media company.IPO
  • David Filo
  • Jerry Yang
Early (1995)Collapse
ZapposZappos, now part of Amazon, is an online shoe retailer driven by customer service.Acquired
  • Tony Hsieh
  • Nick Swinmurn
Growth (2004)Collapse