Back in 2005, Sequoia Capital partner Roelof Botha led a Series A deal into a young online video upstart by the name of YouTube. Just a year later, YouTube was acquired by Google for $1.65B netting a huge payday for Sequoia and an early win for Botha, who had joined Sequoia just two years earlier after leading PayPal to IPO, and its eventual acquisition by eBay, as CFO.
Since then, Botha has been involved in several other high-profile wins, serving on the boards of Xoom (where he is still active) and Tumblr and leading Sequoia’s investment in Instagram. Now, as he takes the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt NY this week, Botha is sitting on an unexited portfolio valued, in aggregate, at over $12B based on disclosed valuations in the private markets. Like other top VC board partners evaluated by past performance, current portfolio strength, network centrality, Botha has amassed an impressive number of Tech IPO Pipeline companies that he sits on the boards of.
Botha seems to maintain a lower profile. On Twitter (which implies he can be trusted), he is not very active. And based on a review of his news mentions using the CB Insights news archive, you can also see his relatively lower profile compared to other high profile investors.
While it’s important to note that private market valuations are highly variable and prone to change as highlighted by Fab, LivingSocial and perhaps even the recent predicaments of Square (one of Botha’s board companies), the reality is that Botha’s portfolio of investments will likely net even more high-profile wins for Sequoia. Below are a cross-section of Botha’s board relationships along with their, real or rumored, valuations based on financing rounds or secondary market transactions. (Note: Whisper is actually rumored to be raising a financing round at a $200 million valuation)
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Note: The picture above is not of Roelof Botha. We hope you didn’t think it was.
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