Moritz Causes A Slight Stir

LPs love to gossip, and the latest hot dish involves Sequoia Capital’s most recent annual meeting.

During a presentation on VC market trends, Mike Moritz discussed how appreciative he and Sequoia are of company founders who build and stay with their companies. Nothing unusual. But then he also made brief mention of a few entrepreneurs who he felt did not match that description. Among them was at least one individual – some sources say more — who is now a partner with The Founders Fund, a VC firm run by former PayPal execs.

The historical animosity is well–documented, but LPs were nonetheless surprised to here a fellow VC called out – particularly when that VC’s firm is currently in the process of raising its second fund (important note: Moritz never mentioned Founders Fund itself).

I personally don’t think it’s that big a deal, particularly since LPs constantly rag on specific general partners. But it apparently violated some sort of unspoken annual meeting rule, which is why everyone I talked to in attendance seemed to remember it. And why those weren’t in attendance have all heard about it too.

For his part, Moritz also thinks the issue is an overblown nonissue (and will likely think I am over-overblowing it via this post). In an email, he wrote the following: “We expressed our ever increasing admiration and appreciation for the founders of companies who elect to build great, enduring enterprises (either as standalone entities or as part of larger companies), rather than the fast-money crowd who place their personal interests above those of their co-founders, employees and other stakeholders — including all of Sequoia Capital’s limited partners. We’ve always felt like this — it’s nothing new.”