There’s a time-honored disaster administration technique, whereby one says nothing and waits for the outrage to cross. For Sequoia Capital, the technique labored fairly effectively this week. Whereas accomplice Shaun Maguire initially weathered criticism over an inflammatory social media put up, that preliminary indignation cooled shortly. Now, some appear to assume that Maguire’s defiant stance could even be strengthening his place. Enterprise Insider really referred to as it “good for deal movement” — controversy as aggressive benefit.
Sequoia’s calculated gamble carries actual threat, although. One other provocative put up from Maguire that hits the mistaken nerve, a shift in political winds, or escalating penalties may shortly rework their unflappable accomplice from an asset right into a legal responsibility the agency can now not afford to disregard.
A disaster communications skilled who has managed repute disasters for dozens of main manufacturers tells this editor, “Corporations like Sequoia are bulletproof till they aren’t.”
What occurred
Sequoia’s hands-off method was put to the check earlier this week when the storied enterprise agency discovered itself within the eye of a storm over Maguire’s feedback about New York Metropolis mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Maguire referred to as him an “Islamist” who “comes from a tradition that lies about every part” in a July 4th tweet on X that has since been seen greater than 5 million occasions. A couple of thousand signatures have poured in relating to a petition demanding that Sequoia condemn the remarks, examine Maguire’s conduct, and apologize.
There’s been lots of discuss why Sequoia hasn’t executed this, with many shops noting that Maguire isn’t simply any accomplice. This standing owes partly to his friendship with Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison. In line with studies, at a 2015 Founders Fund occasion, Maguire — then a Founders Fund-backed entrepreneur — defended Collison throughout an argument with Anduril’s Palmer Luckey about quantum computing, incomes Collison’s friendship. The connection proved useful when Maguire joined Google Ventures in 2016; he helped safe a $20 million Stripe funding throughout his first week. When Maguire left Google Ventures in 2019, Collison personally beneficial him to Sequoia’s companions. (Stripe has been in Sequoia’s portfolio since 2010, with the agency investing greater than $500 million over 15 years.)
Maguire additionally led Sequoia’s funding in Bridge, a stablecoin platform that Stripe acquired for $1.1 billion, and is reportedly Sequoia’s hyperlink to Elon Musk, although he’s hardly its solely hyperlink. Musk and Sequoia’s international chief, Roelof Botha, are each native South Africans and have identified one another for greater than 25 years, relationship again to their time collectively on the then-nascent PayPal, the place Botha was recruited personally by Musk.
Regardless of that lengthy relationship, the 2 haven’t all the time seen eye to eye. Botha was extremely vital of Musk’s administration fashion when Musk was CEO of the merged X.com/PayPal firm, the place Botha was CFO. Botha as soon as advised veteran journalist Ebbe Dommisse, “I believe it could have killed the corporate if Elon had stayed on as CEO for six extra months. The errors Elon was making on the time have been amplifying the danger of the enterprise.” However Musk was at odds with just about that whole crew on the time, and people tensions have lengthy since been resolved.
The larger level right here: while you’re managing tens of billions of {dollars} in belongings and your agency’s repute rests on backing winners like Google, Stripe, and Nvidia, you don’t simply forged apart a rainmaker.
In the meantime, Maguire’s conduct suggests he’s not backing down. After issuing a 30-minute video on X final weekend during which he apologized for offending so many — saying he was making a degree a few political ideology and never one a few faith — he has doubled down with more and more aggressive posts this week. He claimed he has “reverse engineered” his critics’ “command construction” and threatened to “embarrass” anybody who escalates in opposition to him. He added that that is him at “1% throttle” and warned folks to not “fuck w youngsters of the web.”
The silent remedy
Sequoia has precedent for its method to this case. The agency has traditionally given its companions area to specific themselves publicly, with figures like Doug Leone and Michael Moritz (who left the agency in 2023) representing completely different political views.
However there’s an important distinction between political range and incendiary rhetoric and clearly to some, Maguire’s feedback lengthen past partisan politics into territory that alienates each political opponents and potential enterprise companions.
It’s additionally price remembering that even for Sequoia, there’s a brilliant line. Michael Goguen, one other, earlier rainmaker with the agency, was promptly proven the door when Sequoia discovered of a sexual abuse lawsuit filed in opposition to him. The conditions aren’t precisely comparable; Goguen’s points have been authorized and private, not ideological. On the identical time, Sequoia has proven it isn’t keen to circle the wagons at any value, not if its repute is at stake.
Presumably, a number of components inform Sequoia’s do-nothing PR technique, together with how shortly folks, confronted with a relentless flurry of stories, transfer on from a scandal. The agency can be working in a distinct political panorama proper now within the U.S. Together with Donald Trump’s victory and the rollback of DEI initiatives has come new tolerance for controversial speech. What may need been career-ending at an earlier cut-off date is now weathered extra simply.
Past the shifting political winds, the agency is probably going banking on the truth that whereas founders need companions who match the normal, extra genteel VC mildew, they need profitable ones much more. Startups being courted by a number of top-tier corporations won’t like or agree with Maguire, however when Sequoia comes calling with its observe report and nearly bottomless pockets, most founders are going to welcome the agency with open arms.
After all, there’s the very actual chance, too, that Sequoia is engaged on a contingency plan. (Sequoia declined to touch upon Maguire’s posts when reached by TechCrunch earlier this week.)
Nonetheless, Sequoia’s silence carries dangers. Not all of the signers have been confirmed, however the petition in opposition to Maguire consists of the names of some distinguished Center Jap executives and founders who’ve attested to signing it, and so they signify the type of numerous, international expertise pool on which Sequoia’s future relies upon. By not addressing the controversy, Sequoia dangers being seen as tacitly endorsing Maguire’s views.
Put one other approach, although the enterprise capital world has traditionally been remarkably forgiving of controversial figures with distinctive deal movement, the agency is playing with its repute in an more and more related international market the place alienating whole areas and communities carries actual enterprise penalties.
Whether or not that wager pays off will rely upon how lengthy the controversy lingers, how a lot enterprise it really prices Sequoia, and whether or not Maguire can resist the urge to push issues previous Sequoia’s personal tolerance threshold. (He has stated he doesn’t put up something that hasn’t been “excrutiatingly thought out.”)
Historical past means that established monetary corporations with robust observe information are inclined to outlive their scandals, even critical ones. When Apollo World Administration’s Leon Black resigned in 2021 over his $158 million funds to Jeffrey Epstein, the agency’s inventory barely moved and shareholders appeared largely unfazed. Apollo simply continued its aggressive deal-making underneath new management.
Equally, Kleiner Perkins survived Ellen Pao’s high-profile gender discrimination lawsuit in 2015. But it surely took years and primarily a completely new crew for the storied enterprise agency to regain its footing in Silicon Valley’s hierarchy. The lesson right here could also be that whereas controversial companions may be endured, the restoration timelines can range considerably relying on how corporations deal with the disaster.
For now, the disaster communications skilled, who requested to not be named, has some recommendation for Maguire and, by extension, Sequoia. Relating to the video Maguire revealed within the aftermath of his preliminary feedback, the professional stated, “I did assume that apology addressed the ambiguities in (Maguire’s) put up. But it surely’s a 30-minute video — you must be actually to look at this.”
If there’s a subsequent time, the skilled stated, Maguire ought to “do two movies — one for 3 minutes” and one other, longer video, for anybody who desires to maintain watching.
Typically, the professional added, “much less is extra.”
