Before Sequoia’s Botha Stepped Down, Concerns Over Leadership Simmered — The Information

Before Sequoia Capital’s leader Roelof Botha announced he was stepping down from the position, partners Alfred Lin, Pat Grady and Andrew Reed came to him to talk about his time at the firm. Botha had only held the top-most job at the firm for three years, taking over from long-time leader Doug Leone just as startup valuations were convulsing from a historic series of rate hikes. Botha, after talking to the other partners, agreed he would step down. On Tuesday, Lin posted on X a letter from Botha to the firm’s backers, announcing he was handing off leadership to a “new generation.” Lin, who is a year older than Botha, now leads Sequoia with Grady. All the reasons for Botha’s decision could not be learned. Powered by Deep Research The decision surprised the gossipy legions of venture capitalists who had long envied Sequoia’s ability to nab investments in young, fast-growing startups—access helped by a five-decade track record of picking stars like Apple, Google, SpaceX and Stripe. Some o

Before Sequoia Capital’s leader Roelof Botha announced he was stepping down from the position, partners Alfred Lin, Pat Grady and Andrew Reed came to him to talk about his time at the firm. Botha had only held the top-most job at the firm for three years, taking over from long-time leader Doug Leone just as startup valuations were convulsing from a historic series of rate hikes. Botha, after talking to the other partners, agreed he would step down. On Tuesday, Lin posted on X a letter from Botha to the firm’s backers, announcing he was handing off leadership to a “new generation.” Lin, who is