Sequoia Capital has been at the top of its US career for decades, thanks to early investments in Google, Yahoo, LinkedIn and PayPal, as well as, more recently, its WhatsApp messaging startups, the payment company Stripe, and the videoconference unicorns company Zoom.
Yet unlike many of the leading companies in Silicon Valley, Sequoia is far from relying on Bay Area businesses for huge returns. A dozen years ago, anticipating that the most powerful technology ideas could come from anywhere and be built around the world, the company founded Sequoia China and Sequoia India, bringing together local teams to invest in the startup and help the founders build their business. ]
This strategy is paying a lot of time. As we reported earlier this week, Sequoia now earns more than 50 cents on every dollar returned to its investors from its overseas bets.
Among the many companies, Sequoia Capital China has financed on its own: Meituan-Dianping, the group discount service that sells local products and retail services and has just traveled to Hong Kong ; Ele.me, the food order company that sold a majority stake in Alibaba in April for $ 9.5 billion; DJI, the drone company, which reported new funding of $ 1 billion this spring to a $ 15 billion valuation; VIP.com, the open trading platform in 2012 and currently has a market capitalization of $ 7.2 billion; and Didi, the mobile transportation giant who is in a race against his American rival Uber to conquer the global wrinkle-hailing market.
To learn more about the new reality of Silicon Valley startups – this competition is no longer around, it's global – we're excited to announce that Doug Leone, Managing Partner from Sequoia, comes to Disrupt for a discussion by the fire. Leone oversees the company's global operations with Neil Shen, founder and managing partner of Sequoia Capital China, and he knows better than anyone in Silicon Valley how technology and investment landscapes are changing – and what the founders should be aware when they build the next legendary company.
Leone also knows the value of grain. Leone immigrated to the United States from Italy and would have been called "Pasta" in high school before climbing to the top of one of the most admired companies in history. It is no wonder that Leone is particularly passionate about founders from modest backgrounds like his own.
If you care about the big global changes that are reshaping the technology industry right now, and the things that the great founders are doing, you will surely want to hear that conversation.
You can buy tickets for the show, which will take place in San Francisco from September 5 to 7, right here.