The Twenty Minute VCInside Sequoia's Investment Committee | How the SpaceX & Citadel Deals Went Down | Julien Bek
Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- August 24, 2026
- Duration
- 1h 28m
- Channel
- The Twenty Minute VC
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Julien Bek is a Partner at Sequoia Capital, one of the most renowned venture firms in the world. At Sequoia, he has partnered with companies including Rillet, Tacto, and Auctor. Before joining Sequoia, Julien spent five years at Accel, where he worked with companies including Miro, Melio, and BeReal. He is also an angel investor in Revolut and Attio. ----------------------------------------------- Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:11 What Everyone Gets Wrong About Sequoia 06:32 How Sequoia Won Citadel Securities 08:14 Sequoia's $2.5B Anthropic Bet 10:10 Investing in Neo Labs Today Is Like Backing Stumble Upon After Facebook 12:03 Is Series A the Hardest Place to Invest Right Now? 14:00 Why Julien Won't Compromise on Ownership 38:05 How Julien Uncovered a Fraudulent Founder 40:19 Arrogance Is Not a Red Flag — The Don Valentine 2x2 Matrix 41:07 The Lovable Miss: What Julien Got Wrong on Anton Osaka 44:20 How to Adjust Founder Reads by Country 48:54 Lessons From Doug Leone, Pat Grady, Alfred Lin & Shaun Maguire 01:14:57 Why Julien Won't Back Traditional Businesses "Bolting On" AI 01:15:55 Quick-Fire Round ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on X: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Julien Bek on X: https://twitter.com/JulienBek Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #20vc #harrystebbings #julienbek #sequoia #spacex #ai #citadel
SPEAKERS
Julien Bek
guestPartner at Sequoia Capital focused on venture investing, discussing Sequoia’s investment committee process and major deals like SpaceX and Citadel Securities.
Harry Stebbings
hostFounder and host of The Twenty Minute VC (20VC), interviewing venture capital and tech leaders.
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Julien Bek and Harry Stebbings, Inside Sequoia's Investment Committee | How the SpaceX & Citadel Deals Went Down | Julien Bek explores sequoia’s dealmaking, founder judgment, and AI’s next economy shifts Sequoia is portrayed as a “hunter” culture and sports-team partnership where performance, internal debate, and sponsor conviction drive outcomes rather than inbound brand pull alone.
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