Comments on: Sequoia’s Gospel of Startups More True Than Ever

By: Watcher

Watcher — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:26:10 +0000

@15 Lawrence (…?) - enlighten us? Clever comment with no validation. Why don’t you take a stab at answering your own clever questions, you sound like someone with either loads or no experience, diluting the debate with your non objective opinions?

By: Found|LINKS: Mar. 15 - Mar. 22 « FoundRead

Found|LINKS: Mar. 15 - Mar. 22 « FoundRead — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:00:36 +0000

[…] 1) The 1st and 2nd Gospels of Sequoia Capital. We posted on these last week, following a nod form TechCrunch (thank you). Gospel 1: Elements of Sustainable Companies. Gospel 2: Writing A Business Plan. […]

By: Los Consejos de Sequoia « Luv Sayal

Los Consejos de Sequoia « Luv Sayal — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 03:29:44 +0000

[…] un par de días, Michael Arrington de TechCrunch nos recordó estos elementos que han conducido la estrategía de inversion de Sequoia para décadas — una lista de 10 […]

By: スタートアップへの福音：Sequoia Capital « maclalala

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 23:28:05 +0000

[…] TechCrunch: “Sequoia’s Gospel of Startups More True Than Ever” by Michael Arrington: 20 March 2008 TechCrunch Japanese: “Sequoia […]

By: Yuri Ammosov

Yuri Ammosov — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 19:06:43 +0000

Hmm… this text was on SeqCap site for as long as I remember, since 2003 - at least. What happened that you decided to reprint it?

By: Mr Boin

Mr Boin — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:11:38 +0000

Not sure those rules applies to any successful startup, but as a grid to select potential success, it’s definitely a good investor tool.

By: Cangelor - The China Angel Investor

Cangelor - The China Angel Investor — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:08:08 +0000

Every road leads to Rome.

With that being said, I think what the Sequoia Capital list indicates is that the way they prefer. If you happen to prefer that way, you’re lucky so you will be possibly funded by Sequoia Capital because you share the same value with them.

However, if you feel uncomfortable with some of the points, I don’t think you must fail. Like many other people have shared, there should be other ways that can create successful businesses as well.

IMHO I would share my formula of success.

success = right team + right product + right timing

If you can get the three things right, absolutely you will succeed. Among the three things, right team is most important. Then right product. Then right timing.

If you can get two things right, you can basically survive but can not be so profitable. If you can get one thing right only, you can’t survive so you will definitely fail.

By: Barb Hibino

Barb Hibino — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:20:09 +0000

Very helpful. Keep those tidbits of wisdom coming.

By: Indian startup twitter | Words of Wisdom | Startups in Twitter

Indian startup twitter | Words of Wisdom | Startups in Twitter — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:07:14 +0000

[…] abandon then ‘get back in the ring again…” writes John Furrier in response to this this post @ […]

By: John Furrier

John Furrier — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:28:13 +0000

I do agree Mike. These are key.

I would add another piece… my view:
1. go after a large market…
2. use the guideines that Mike points to
3. assess your position and ability to get that large market
4. get high octane rocket fuel if on track or reboot with fixes or abandon
5. Get back in the ring again
6. Got to Step 1

if you know you can’t make it either retool or abandon as soon as possible…with an emphasis on abandon… if you abandon then ‘get back in the ring again’

By: dan

dan — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:51:37 +0000

profound

By: MistOne

MistOne — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:40:46 +0000

my favorite quote from sequoia and a seriouse driven of ambition:
“Almost everyone we have ever invested in has been a complete unknown at the time we met. ”

to me this quote crystallizes why we play the game.

By: G. Orilla

G. Orilla — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:26:12 +0000

“All team members are the smartest or most clever in their domain”. Whilst being clever is definitely a bonus, I tend to think that hiring PHD’s (Poor, Hungry and Driven) will compensate for any intellectual shortcomings. That’s how we built our company http://www.beedogs.com/

G. Orilla

By: Midland Texas Al

Midland Texas Al — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:07:59 +0000

Great post. Stuff like this is what brought me to TC.

By: Owen Byrne

Owen Byrne — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:56:52 +0000

Most people who’ve spent any time at B-school are probably rolling their eyes at this list, since it’s basically entrepreneurship 101. I also wonder how VCs reconcile their inevitable parachuting in of management with the “Company DNA is formed in the first 90 days” line.

By: Voices.com

Voices.com — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:43:57 +0000

While I was familiar with a lot of the concepts, it’s a nice reminder to have it laid out right in front of you.

I printed a copy so I’ll be reminded the next time we’re needing to focus.

Thanks!

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:33:18 +0000

I’m convinced youyap is someone playing a prank on us…

By: jro

jro — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:39:53 +0000

This is a great list from Sequoia, and applies at just about any point in time.

One item to consider: if a company is actually able to meet all these bullet points, the need for funding would be heavily diminished (the business would take care of itself.)

Great advice, though.

By: YouYap.com

YouYap.com — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:33:49 +0000

Thanks for the word of encouragement. Thats what i need now

By: other

other — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:24:38 +0000

YouYap.com - your website looks like nothing more than a vbulletin forum with articles stolen from other sites (like this exact techcrunch post, ironically). Yes, I saw the couple of stupid sounding articles that you wrote yourself.

By: otc

otc — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:15:15 +0000

Good stuff Techcrunch.

By: other

other — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:08:22 +0000

the “rich customers” one is dumb. most web (or otherwise) companies operate without the need for rich customers.

By: Na

Na — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:07:56 +0000

I am going to disagree. I have worked for some of the folks they have funded and those people were insane…

By: YouYap.com

YouYap.com — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:51:20 +0000

I don’t think this rules works all the time. What about craigslist? This is a company that didn’t follow any of these commandment and still succesfull. I have seen this site grow slowly. I just think with time your website will grow. It like real estate, with time the value will go up.

Hope to do same with my website:
YouYap.com

By: Sequoia Capital’s Elements of Sustainable Companies « PlayerSearch Blog

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:42:08 +0000

[…] Capital’s Elements of Sustainable Companies I recently came across a post on Techcrunch that linked to Sequoia Capital’s Elements of Sustainable Companies. Here are the […]