Sonya Huang

I’m a Silicon Valley kid at heart. I was born in Mountain View and grew up in the gravity well of innovation that was 1990s Silicon Valley. It was a fascinating time, from learning to code in third grade to witnessing blockbuster IPOs and the dotcom bubble burst.

Growing up in the Valley made me believe deeply in the American Dream and technology’s role in creating a better future. My parents are immigrant engineers, and technology and entrepreneurship gave them the vehicle to create something lasting. I see venture capital as a conduit to amplify the best founders and the best ideas and give them every possible unfair advantage.

I worked at Goldman Sachs and private equity before joining Sequoia. My time in the financial world helped train my eye for operating and financial KPIs, and I try to bring this strategic finance mindset to bear in service of the companies I work with.

I chose to work at Sequoia because it’s deeply fulfilling to see a founder transform from “outsider” to leader. We get to partner with companies in their earliest, most delicate stages, and watch them bloom. It’s an honor to be a wingperson on that journey.

I seek to partner with founders who take incredible care and joy in their craft. One of the companies I work with, dbt Labs, has a beautiful company value that I think about every day: “Work done well is its own end. We do great work because it is an expression of who we are, a contribution of our unique talents and perspectives to a purpose larger than ourselves.”

I also like to work with founders who are thinking a decade ahead, rather than solving the problems of today. They see the future impact of the technology they’re building the way an artist sketches—it’s hazy at first, and then it comes into view. Emily Weiss at Glossier comes to mind: she’s constantly pushing the boundaries of what a consumer brand can be.

These days, I spend a lot of time in fintech and software, seeking to find companies that are reinventing legacy financial services and enterprise technology in a design-first, user-first way. I’ve also been spending more time in Latin America and am blown away by the scale of founder ambition.