Don Valentine founded Sequoia Capital in 1972, making Sequoia Capital the venture-capital firm that helped shape Silicon Valley startup culture.
Valentine had worked in sales and marketing at semiconductor companies, including Fairchild Semiconductor and National Semiconductor. He recognized that young technology companies often needed more than money: they needed help with recruiting, sales, product focus, and business strategy. Sequoia became known for investing early in ambitious companies and working closely with their founders.
The firm backed companies including Apple, Atari, Cisco, Oracle, Electronic Arts, Google, YouTube, and WhatsApp. Its history is sometimes confused with that of Kleiner Perkins, another influential Silicon Valley venture firm founded in 1972. The two firms invested in many technology leaders, but they were separate organizations.
Sequoia's name comes from the giant sequoia trees of California. Its early investments helped establish the modern venture-capital model in which a small number of high-growth startups can receive concentrated funding and operational support.