Sam Altman shares Michael Moritz's five principles behind Sequoia's decades of dominance
darian314 · x · 2026-10-06
Patrick O'Shaughnessy released a long interview with Sequoia legend Michael Moritz (investor in Google, Yahoo, PayPal, Stripe), tied to his new book Ausländer about his parents' escape from Nazi Germany.
Sam Altman recounted that in 2016 he asked Moritz how Sequoia kept innovating and stayed on top for decades — an answer so good YC asked to publish it publicly. Moritz's formula boils down to five ideas:
- Yesterday is irrelevant
- Keep the team fresh
- Change with the market
- Stay one step from going out of business
- Take on the incumbents (his personal driving force)
The interview also covers the infamous Steve Jobs profile, why Don Valentine hired him, his most revealing interview question, monomania and the cost of greatness, and writing about AI.
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