20VC Exclusive: Sequoia's Luciana Lixandru Unveils Sequoia's New 8 Week Accelerator, Arc | Biggest Takeaways from Working with Doug Leone and Roelof Botha | The Journey From a Small Town In Romania to Partner @ Sequoia
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 21 March 2022
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Luciana Lixandru is a Partner @ Sequoia, one of the world’s most renowned and successful venture firms with Sequoia-backed companies accounting for more than 20% of NASDAQ's total value. As for Luciana, at Sequoia she has led investments in the likes of PennyLane, Xentral, Veed and Ledgy to name a few. Prior to joining Sequoia in 2020, Luciana was a Partner @ Accel where she made investments in Hopin, Miro, UiPath, Tessian and Deliveroo. As a result of such investing success, Luciana was #2 on the Midas List in 2021.
In Today’s Episode with Luciana Lixandru You Will Learn:
1.) Origins:
- How did Luciana make her way from a small town in Romania to being Partner @ Sequoia?
- What were the 1-2 crucible moments in her life that changed the course of her life?
2.) Luciana: The Investor
- How has Luciana's investing style changed and developed over the years?
- How does Luciana reflect on her own relationship to price? What misses caused these changes?
- Hopin, Miro, Deliveroo, UiPath, how did having such winners so early impact Luciana's investing mindset?
- What would Luciana say is her biggest insecurity today? What drives this?
3.) Sequoia: The Team
- What are Luciana's biggest takeaways from working with Doug Leone, Alfren Lin, Roelof Botha and Pat Grady?
- What does the decision-making process look like for new deals within Sequoia?
- How does the Sequoia partnership create an environment of safety where everyone can discuss and debate freely?
- How does Luciana approach training and mentorship? What works and what does not?
4.) Sequoia in Europe + Sequoia's Arc:
- What is Arc? Why was now the right time for Sequoia to do it?
- What is the structure for the program?
- How many startups are part of it? Who is able to apply?
- How much capital do the startups receive? What else do they receive in mentoring etc?
- In 5 years time, what would success look like for Luciana with Arc?
Item’s Mentioned In Today’s Episode with Luciana Lixandru
Luciana’s Favourite Book: The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to 20VC with me, Harry Stebbings, and I'm so, so excited for the episode to stay, |
| 0:04.3 | as we have some special news from our guest, which is incredibly exciting. But I'm not going to |
| 0:08.2 | spoil it, and so I'm going to leave it to them, but I'm thrilled to welcome one of the greatest |
| 0:11.9 | investors of the last decade, Mero Hoppin, UiPath, Deliveroo, to name a few, an unparalleled track record, and one of the most authentic and wonderful people as well. |
| 0:21.2 | And so with that, I'm thrilled to welcome Luciano Alexandrew, partner at Sequoia, one of the world's |
| 0:25.2 | most renowned and successful venture firms. |
| 0:27.4 | With check this out, Sequoia backed companies accounting for more than 20% of NASDAX total |
| 0:32.8 | value, incredible stat there. |
| 0:34.7 | As for Luciana, Ed Sequoia, she's led investments in the likes of Penny Lane, |
| 0:38.3 | Central, Veed, and Leggie, to name a few, and prior to joining Sequoora in 2020, |
| 0:43.0 | Luciano was a partner at Excel in London. Also, I have to say Lucianhas is one of the most |
| 0:47.0 | inspiring and wonderful stories. I was so pleased to really dive into its day, and I also cannot |
| 0:51.7 | thank Doug Leone, George Robson, Pat Grady, |
| 0:54.4 | Ravi Gupta, Sean McGuire and Robert Visionaries enough. Such immense help with the questions, |
| 0:58.9 | and I really do so appreciate that. But before we move into the episode today, |
| 1:02.7 | Harvard Management Company is constantly seeking out the next generation of great investors |
| 1:06.9 | and entrepreneurs. HMC has managed Harvard University's endowment for nearly 50 years |
| 1:12.0 | and was one of the first institutional investors in venture capital. Their experience in long-term |
| 1:16.8 | investment horizon makes them ideal partners to get world-changing ideas on a path to viability and |
| 1:22.6 | success. They work as a true partner providing insightful perspectives to help managers succeed. |
| 1:27.7 | I personally have had the pleasure of working with the HMC team and can say that they're truly exceptional partners, people, and incredibly savvy investors. |
| 1:35.6 | Whether you are launching your first fund or your fifth, HMC welcomes the opportunity to partner with both developing and established managers. |
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