Legendary VC firm Sequoia just released the memo for its Apple bet in 1977. Read it here.
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| Source: Mastodon | Original article
Sequoia Capital has made a piece of Silicon Valley lore public: the handwritten memo by founder Don Valentine that secured the firm’s first Apple investment in 1977. The document, posted on Sequoia’s website to mark Apple’s 50th anniversary, details Valentine’s assessment of the fledgling computer maker, then a garage‑based startup led by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. He wrote that Apple’s “personal computer” vision could “reshape how people work and play,” even as he warned that the market was “still nascent and risky.”
The release is more than a nostalgic footnote. It underscores how a venture firm that once bet on a $150,000 Apple check has evolved into a $85 billion powerhouse that now backs dozens of AI‑focused startups, from large‑scale language models to edge‑compute platforms. By juxtaposing the original rationale with Sequoia’s current portfolio—spanning generative‑AI labs, autonomous‑driving chips and cloud‑native infrastructure—the memo illustrates the continuity of a playbook that prizes transformative technology over short‑term metrics.
For investors and founders, the memo offers a rare glimpse into the decision‑making framework that propelled Apple from a hobbyist kit to a trillion‑dollar empire. Valentine’s emphasis on founder vision, market‑size potential and the willingness to “accept a high degree of uncertainty” mirrors the criteria Sequoia applies today to AI ventures, a sector that now accounts for a growing slice of its capital allocation.
What to watch next: Sequoia has hinted that additional historic documents—from its early bets on YouTube to its 2005 Google Ventures partnership—may follow, potentially shedding light on how the firm’s risk calculus has adapted to successive waves of disruption. Analysts will also be keen to see whether the firm’s renewed focus on AI, highlighted in recent coverage of its portfolio moves, translates into a new generation of “Apple‑style” bets on generative‑AI startups.
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