We want people who come from humble backgrounds and have a need to win. Douglas Leone More Quotes by Douglas Leone More Quotes From Douglas Leone A tremendous chief executive in a small market will never be great. All great companies start with great markets. Douglas Leone chief-executives chiefs great-company I was working on boats as a teenager, sweating like a pig during a summer job. Douglas Leone teenager summer jobs Crystal-clear thinking is one of the things we look for - not a fancy slide pitch, but crystal-clear thinking. Douglas Leone fancy looks thinking Give me an entrepreneur with a lot of courage, gusto and who iterates rapidly, and I will back that person day in and day out. Douglas Leone gusto entrepreneur giving Be incredibly, ruthlessly selfish with your equity. Douglas Leone selfish-acts equity selfish Guys like me on the investor side are a dime a dozen. Douglas Leone dozen dimes guy The venture industry is both quite vibrant and quite competitive. Douglas Leone venture industry In a downturn, aggressive PR and communications strategy is key. Douglas Leone strategy communication keys We work as a team. I think having the individual being shown as a star actually creates problems internally. We encourage all our investors to work as a team for the benefit of the founders. Douglas Leone problems think team work I'll say this: I can't think of one instance in my 20 years in venture capital in which I have wanted to sell a company before the entrepreneur. Douglas Leone say think company entrepreneur In a globalized world, one application can spread like wildfire and there's only one winning company, which means you have to invest more than you've ever had. Douglas Leone you company winning world You meet with a CEO or founder. You talk about sales, engineering, product management and give some ideas or suggestions. And the founder quickly understands that you really can help them both operationally and from a strategic standpoint. Douglas Leone meet you management ideas We've tried to build Sequoia Capital with an eye for the long term that we really look for in the companies we like to partner with. Douglas Leone partner look eye long Our business is all about helping someone - a founder, a CEO - building a great business. It's not about seeing our names in the press. Douglas Leone someone great building business There's a number of companies clearly that we wish we had invested in either at the early or at the moderate stage. Douglas Leone either early stage wish The trick is, a market has to be nonexistent when you start. If the market is large early on, you will have too many competitors. You have to make it large. Douglas Leone market will start you If you choose a market that already exists, say, networking equipment, you have to compete with an established company like Cisco. Even if your product is marginally better, Cisco can fudge it and outsell you. Douglas Leone choose your better you During dark times, real entrepreneurs come out. They are not competing with 10 look-alike companies for engineering talent, so it's a great time to invest and help build companies. Douglas Leone great talent dark time We look at the number of engineers coming out of India; we look at the growth of the economy, and it's clear that India is a place we want to be. Douglas Leone place look india growth If you start a successful company in China at 11 A.M., by 2 P.M. there's three more companies like it. Douglas Leone start you company three
