Shaun Maguire
- Seed/Early
My whole life I've sought out people that I think are really talented but a little bit off the radar.
Backstory
Growing up, I had a cousin who studied computer science at UCLA, who made a huge impact on me. When I was 7 years old, he helped me build my first computer. From the time I was 9, I’ve been obsessed with space. For months, when I was 13, I couldn’t sleep at night because there was a thought experiment I couldn’t understand. (It turns out space is curved.) I did horribly in high school. Bored out of my mind. I didn’t even go to class most of the time—1.8 GPA in 10th grade and an F in algebra II. I was doing projects on the computer, hanging out in hacker forums for 10 hours a day in IRC.
I’ve started five companies. The first one was a failure, three of them have been successful, and one is too early to call. I started the second company with two friends and I got to know a lot of VCs raising money for it. I pitched everyone—except Sequoia, because they had a conflict. Fast forward a few years, and Google Ventures offered me a job that gave me the flexibility to stay in LA and finish my Ph.D. in quantum gravity. This wasn’t necessarily what I thought I would do long term. Then another fund that was trying to recruit me did a reference call with my friend Patrick Collison. Patrick called Sequoia and told them they should hire me instead.
On the lookout for
I like high-IQ founders. But even more important to me is someone that’s just irrationally motivated. For whatever reason, it’s their life mission to try to revolutionize the industry they’re going after. And some of these founders don’t even understand where it comes from, or how deeply ingrained it is in them. I’ve got to believe that they work incredibly hard in part to make their families proud. In some cases, they were wildly misunderstood as kids and have chips on their shoulders. One of the ways to measure this is, what do people do on their weekends? The best founders are just so obsessed with what they’re doing that they cannot turn off.
Get in touch with ShaunPersonal Side
- Quantum gravity
- First-person shooters
- Marathoner
- 95 countries
- Dolphin Club alum
Press & Media
Companies
Current Companies
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AMP Robotics is changing the face of recycling with high-speed guided robotics.Current Stage
Growth
PartnersShaun Maguire,
Josephine ChenPartnered In2019
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DeSo is a layer-1 blockchain custom-built to scale decentralized social applications.Current Stage
Seed
PartnerShaun Maguire
Partnered In2021
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Gather hosts virtual spaces for work and play.Current Stage
Growth
PartnersShaun Maguire,
Pat GradyPartnered In2021
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Iron Fish is a Layer 1 blockchain that provides privacy guarantees on every single transaction.Current Stage
Early
PartnerShaun Maguire
Partnered In2021
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Knowde is the marketplace for chemicals, polymers and ingredients.Current Stage
Growth
PartnersShaun Maguire,
Josephine ChenPartnered In2020
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LayerZero is an omnichain interoperability protocol that enables trustless cross-chain dApp development.Current Stage
Growth
PartnersShaun Maguire,
Michelle BailhePartnered In2022
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Magic Eden is the leading destination for NFT discovery, expression, and ownership across digital cultures.Current Stage
Growth
PartnersJosephine Chen,
Shaun MaguirePartnered In2021
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Monad's platform unites security data silos and builds effective security and compliance workflows.Current Stage
Early
PartnersShaun Maguire,
Lauren ReederPartnered In2020
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Physna codifies 3D models into detailed data for software applications.Current Stage
Growth
PartnersShaun Maguire,
Doug LeonePartnered In2020
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Privy makes Simple APIs to manage user data off-chain.Current Stage
Seed
PartnersShaun Maguire,
Josephine ChenPartnered In2020
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r2C is a defensive cybersecurity automation company with an open-source static analysis tool.Current Stage
Early
PartnersJim Goetz,
Shaun MaguirePartnered In2017
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SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches rockets and spacecraft.Current Stage
Growth
PartnerShaun Maguire
Partnered In2020
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The Boring Company creates safe, fast-to-dig, and low-cost transportation, utility, and freight tunnels.Current Stage
Growth
PartnerShaun Maguire
Partnered In2022
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Vise is an AI-powered portfolio management platform.Current Stage
Growth
PartnersShaun Maguire,
Ravi GuptaPartnered In2019
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Watershed is a software platform that helps companies get to zero carbon fast.Current Stage
Growth
PartnersMichael Moritz,
Shaun MaguirePartnered In2020