In the crowded field of US venture capital, where arguably too much money is chasing the available quality investments and some firms bemoaning the industry’s prospects , Sequoia Capital is on something of a run.
Having reaped a reported $495m – or 43-fold return – on its investment in YouTube, Sequoia then exited Topio for an impressive payback when the company agreed to be sold to Network Appliance for $160m in cash, says VC Ratings.
Now Greenfield Online, another Sequoia backed company, has been sold to Cisco.
VC Ratings points to a new feature on the company’s website – a list of 10 characteristics that Sequoia, which backed both Yahoo! and Google, looks for in companies and advice on submitting a business plan. It is striking that – “Team DNA” aside – the list is light on high-level, empty rhetoric and full of common sense.
Under “Clarity of Purpose” – Sequoia suggests summarising a company’s business on the back of a business card. No need for reams of management speak here – for a business plan a single declarative sentence is all it should take.
Under “Painkillers” – “pick the one thing that is of burning importance to the customer then delight them with a compelling solution.” Whatever the product is, who could resist?
And under the mysterious heading of “Inferno” – it concludes, “start with only a little money. It forces discipline and focus. A huge market with customers yearning for a product developed by great engineers requires very little firepower.”
How refreshing.