20VC: Inside Sequoia's Investment Committee: Lessons from Don Valentine, Doug Leone and Alfred Lin | How the SpaceX and Citadel Deals Went Down | What Sequoia Specifically Looks for in Founders with Julien Bek

Julien Bek is a Partner at Sequoia Capital, one of the most renowned venture firms in the world. At Sequoia, he has partnered with companies including Rillet, Tacto, and Auctor. Before joining Sequoia, Julien spent five years at Accel, where he worked with companies including Miro, Melio, and BeReal. He is also an angel investor in Revolut and Attio.

AGENDA:

06:35 – What did Julien only discover about Sequoia after joining the firm? 08:05 – What does everyone get wrong about Sequoia? 13:00 – Is Series A the hardest stage at which to invest today? 14:00 – Is Sequoia less focused on ownership as outcomes become larger? 19:20 – Does Sequoia simply pay more than everyone else to win deals? 22:00 – Is the "triple, triple, double, double" growth model dead? 25:00 – What is Sequoia's investment process really like behind the scenes? 27:15 – Can a partner still invest when the rest of Sequoia votes against them? 30:00 – Why can a flawless founder pitch actually be a warning sign? 31:00 – How do you judge whether a founder is exceptional in just 30 minutes? 33:00 – How can investors tell whether a founder's story is genuine? 35:10 – Is arrogance a bad trait in a founder? 36:00 – Which great founder did Julien completely misread? 37:15 – How should investors adjust their founder assessment across different cultures? 39:00 – What does a founder's childhood reveal about their future trajectory? 40:30 – What has Julien learned from Doug Leone, Pat Grady, Alfred Lin and Shaun Maguire? 47:00 – What does it mean when "agents become the new customer"? 49:00 – Does UI become irrelevant in an agent-first economy? 50:15 – Will answer-engine optimisation become larger than SEO? 52:00 – Will AI agents destroy software margins and brand loyalty? 53:00 – How quickly will enterprises allow agents to make purchasing decisions? 54:00 – Is AI infrastructure a safer investment than applications? 56:00 – Do software margins matter less when the potential outcomes are larger? 58:00 – Could the next trillion-dollar company masquerade as a services business? 01:00:00 – Which service industries can AI truly automate end-to-end? 01:02:00 – Are enterprises simply crying out for more help implementing AI? 01:03:10 – Will AI lead to dramatically smaller teams? 01:06:15 – Is traditional private equity screwed? 01:07:00 – The most overfunded and underfunded categories in venture 01:08:15 – What is the best AI agent company outside Sequoia's portfolio? 01:09:00 – Which missed investment still haunts Julien? 01:09:45 – Which founder trait will Julien never compromise on? 01:10:00 – Which competing fund makes Sequoia bring its A-game? 01:10:45 – How Julien missed Revolut—and helped his mother retire by investing anyway 01:14:00 – What does Julien believe that other Sequoia partners might disagree with? 01:15:00 – What is Julien most excited about over the next five years of AI?