Sequoia in Europe with Luciana Lixandru

Entrepreneur Talks by STATION F

Sequoia Capital has landed in Europe. Last September, Silicon Valley's premier venture capital firm set up shop in London with Luciana Lixandru at its head. With COVID aside, why make this move in 2020? Sequoia has previously invested in European companies like UiPath, Unity, and Klarna — why the need for a physical base? In this episode, we dive into all these questions with Luciana; learn more about how Sequoia finds, screens, and supports portfolio companies; talk about its scout program; and a lot more!

At Sequoia, Luciana focuses on enterprise and consumer technology companies across Europe. She is passionate about helping founders at all stages unlock their potential and think on a global scale. Prior to becoming Sequoia's first partner in Europe, Luciana (#12 on Forbes' Midas List Europe) worked at Accel for eight years, where she led investments in UiPath, Deliveroo, Hopin, Framer, Miro, and Tessian.

Topics:

00:23 — Introduction with Roxanne Varza & Gwen Salley

01:20 — Luciana on Sequoia’s move to London

03:28 — Why enter Europe in 2020

04:14 — Sequoia’s investment thesis and examples of European investments

04:46 — Establishing a physical presence in Europe to find talent earlier

06:12 — Sequoia’s Europe team

09:15 — Luciana on team building at Sequoia and recruitment for London

10:50 — How Sequoia invests and helps with company building

12:45 — The differences in the European ecosystem

14:56 — The impact of COVID on work habits

16:20 — Sequoia’s screening process (including one of Luciana’s tricks!)

22:00 — How Sequoia leverages its community to help its portfolio companies

26:22 — The origins of Sequoia’s scout program

28:43 — Roxanne (STATION F Director) on how she became a scout at Sequoia Capital

30:37 — How the scout program works

32:30 — Tier-1 international funds setting up shop in Europe

This episode is hosted by Roxanne Varza and Gwen Salley, and produced by Cindy Yang. Art is by Gaëtan Lefebvre.

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