Doug Leone
- Seed/Early
- +
- Growth
I would like to be known as a person who cared deeply. My epitaph should say ‘he died a young man,’ as I am still a kid at heart.
Backstory
Don Valentine gave me the shot at Sequoia in 1988, and prevailed on the partners to “give the kid a little more time” when I struggled early on. Don was very tough. After one presentation where I asked an aggressive question, he left a note written in green ink on the conference room table for me to see which said ‘Doug – not fit to listen to founders.’ This is how feedback was given. You learned real fast. I made it to Partner in 1993 and became Managing Partner in 1996. Worked with companies such as RingCentral, ServiceNow and Nubank, while leading our expansion into China and India. Bent the arc of a number of companies.
What got me here? Fear, hunger and empathy. I came to America from Italy as an only child with my parents at age 11. We settled in Mount Vernon, New York, which was a tough town. I couldn’t throw or hit a baseball. I was an outsider trying to blend in. You had to develop thick skin and have your eyes wide open. My father was a strong and funny man. My mother was shrewd and warm. I am a product of both. My first job after college was in technical sales because I understood people. The CEO and board members of Sun Micro heard of my sales achievements and gave me strong references when I applied for VC jobs.
On the lookout for
Performance. Do you bring it everyday? You can’t always be at 110%, but when it’s playoff time the great players know how to bring it. You have to take as many people along with you for the ride. Teams always beat individuals. I love founders who are spiky, in any dimension. It’s never about money but about doing something meaningful. They do the impossible and you have to learn to dream with them, while helping them to build a business.
We have a culture of taking risks. I prefer you take a shot. I’d rather have someone who gets A, F, F, A than someone that gets B+, B+, B+, B+. I prefer people who ask for forgiveness rather than for permission. You have to be willing to put yourself out of business by trying new things, before someone else does.
Get in touch with DougPersonal Side
- Family first
- Sequoia
- Fitness
- Relationships
- Little things
Press & Media
Companies
Current Companies
Company Name | Short Description | Current Stage | Founders | First Partnered | collapse |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ActionIQ | ActionIQ is developing the next generation of distributed data engines that live in the cloud. | Growth |
| Pre-Seed/Seed (2014) | Collapse |
Cyera | Cyera transforms the way organizations secure data in the cloud with Data Reality. | Early |
| Early (2022) | Collapse |
Island | Island is the enterprise browser that makes work fluid, frictionless, and fundamentally secure. | Growth |
| Early (2020) | Collapse |
Oasis Security | Oasis is the first enterprise platform for non-human identity management. | Early |
| Pre-Seed/Seed (2023) | Collapse |
Physna | Physna codifies 3D models into detailed data for software applications. | Growth |
| Early (2020) | Collapse |
Security Scorecard | Security Scorecard is the global leader in cybersecurity ratings. | Growth |
| Early (2015) | Collapse |
strongDM | strongDM manages and audits access to servers and databases. | Growth |
| Early (2019) | Collapse |
Trade Republic | Trade Republic makes buying and selling ETFs, derivatives and cryptocurrency easy. | Growth |
| Growth (2021) | Collapse |
Wiz | Wiz secures everything built and run in the cloud. | Growth |
| Early (2020) | Collapse |
Zafran | Zafran is a threat exposure management platform that integrates with security tools to reveal, remediate and mitigate all infrastructure risks. | Early |
| Pre-Seed/Seed (2023) | Collapse |
Enduring Companies
Company Name | Short Description | Current Stage | Founders | First Partnered | collapse |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Medallia | Medallia offers customer experience management software. | IPO |
| Growth (2011) | Collapse |
Meraki | Meraki, now part of Cisco, provides routing and security solutions. | Acquired |
| Early (2006) | Collapse |
Nubank | Nubank provides next-generation mobile banking and financial services to the Latin American market. | IPO |
| Pre-Seed/Seed (2013) | Collapse |
PlanGrid | PlanGrid, now part of Autodesk, builds construction software for the field. | Acquired |
| Early (2014) | Collapse |
RingCentral | RingCentral provides cloud-based phone systems for today's mobile and distributed businesses. | IPO |
| Early (2006) | Collapse |
ServiceNow | ServiceNow creates digital workflows that unlock productivity. | IPO |
| Growth (2009) | Collapse |