Don Valentine and Sequoia Capital

Felda  Hardymon; Tom  Nicholas; Liz  Kind

Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2014

Don Valentine and Sequoia Capital

by Felda Hardymon, Tom Nicholas and Liz Kind

Abstract

Don Valentine participated in the beginnings of two significant milestones: the birth of the silicon chip and the development of the venture capital industry. From humble beginnings, Valentine became a legendary salesman at Fairchild Semiconductor and National Semiconductor before founding Sequoia Capital in 1972. Valentine was comfortable making high-risk bets on unknown entrepreneurs in markets where he saw great potential. Unlike other venture capitalists of the time that focused on finding outstanding entrepreneurs or groundbreaking technology, Valentine took a different approach. He focused predominantly on the size of the potential market.

Keywords: Venture Capital; Personal Development and Career; Semiconductor Industry;

Language: English

Format: Print

19 pages

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Citation:

Hardymon, Felda, Tom Nicholas, and Liz Kind. "Don Valentine and Sequoia Capital." Harvard Business School Case 814-096, April 2014.

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The study of economic growth is concerned with long-run changes, and therefore, historical data should be especially influential in informing the development of new theories. In this review, we draw on the recent literature to highlight areas in which study of history has played a particularly prominent role in improving our understanding of growth dynamics. Research at the intersection of historical data, theory, and empirics has the potential to reframe how we think about economic growth in much the same way that historical perspectives helped to shape the first generation of endogenous growth theories.

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Don Valentine and Sequoia Capital

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