During a TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 interview Monday, Sequoia Capital’s managing partner, Roelof Botha, defended Shaun Maguire, a Sequoia partner, regarding the controversial statements Maguire made earlier in the year. He characterized the firm as one that believes in his partner’s “free speech” rights.
In a July 4 X post, Maguire criticized Zohran Mamdani, a New York City mayoral candidate, labeling the politician an “Islamist” who “comes from a culture that lies about everything.” His comments sparked considerable online criticism and discussions about the potential reputational harm to the VC firm, which has supported companies such as Airbnb, Google, Nvidia, and Stripe.
Shortly after the incident, over a thousand tech industry professionals and founders signed an open letter, urging Sequoia to take action and underscore that “silence in the face of hate has consequences.”
Last week, the Financial Times reported that Sumaiya Balbale, Sequoia’s chief operating officer and a practicing Muslim, resigned due to the firm’s choice not to penalize Maguire after his remarks.
On stage, Botha chose not to comment on the COO’s departure, only expressing his appreciation for Balbale’s contributions to the firm.
However, regarding Maguire, Botha contended that Sequoia has consistently upheld diverse viewpoints. As an example, Botha mentioned that Sequoia VC Michael Moritz had openly opposed President Trump, while former managing partner Doug Leone had been a strong Trump supporter.
“We value a range of opinions internally, and we need ‘spiky’ individuals within Sequoia,” Botha said to TechCrunch editor-in-chief Connie Loizos on stage, referring to Maguire.
Considering the high-profile nature of the comments and the potential for discouraging some founders from partnering with Sequoia, the response was notably frank.
“Our partnership actually includes a wide spectrum of opinions, and we appreciate that people express them differently,” Botha added.
“Some of our partners are highly involved in philanthropy or specific private matters, and they aren’t as outspoken on social media as Shaun may be. We’ve always respected each of our individual partners’ right to free speech,” Botha stated.
He also argued that Maguire has a “specific profile” that attracts a certain type of founder. For example, Maguire has significant connections to Elon Musk’s companies, overseeing Sequoia’s investments in Neuralink, SpaceX, The Boring Company, X, and xAI. According to Botha, he is also drawing in founders from another currently popular industry besides AI: defense tech. He has, for instance, supported Mach Industries, a rising star in autonomous weapons.
“He’s a physics PhD who dropped out of high school,” Botha stated, highlighting Maguire’s technical expertise.
However, Botha conceded that Maguire’s outspokenness does have some consequences. “So, are there trade-offs? Yes, there are,” he acknowledged.
