Sequoia this week announced a broad overhaul in a memo posted to X, a move that includes closing its London office and shutting down its scout program. Observers warn that it would be a mistake to read too much into the London closure, since the British capital has a thriving AI scene. On the other hand, the decision to end scouts says more about where venture investing is headed.
That’s partly because 17 years ago, Sequoia pioneered the scouts model, in which select founders and operators write checks on the firm’s behalf. Amid increased competition for deal flow, many VC firms followed suit. But a consensus now seems to be emerging that the model has reached its limits in its current form.
Not everyone was sold on the model in the first place. I suspect other firms will shutter theirs too.” he added. To be clear, Sequoia didn’t make a case against scouts in the memo.
Instead, it framed its decision as part of a broader need for more focus. But its goal of “putting more energy behind fewer people and things” is likely to resonate with others who’ve questioned the ‘spray and pray’ approach to scouting. Rival firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), for instance, rolled out a global scout network aimed at spotting opportunities in the U.S. and also in smaller European hubs.
But a16z partner Gabriel Vasquez told TechCrunch earlier this year that the firm had revamped its program to double down “on the best people.” Under this new approach, Vasquez explained, scouts get more resources but are also expected to be more active, such as by co-hosting dinners with the firm. This also seems to indicate that it is VC firms that have been driving an overhaul of the model. For founders, being a scout is attractive: it brings them closer to firms they may want checks from someday, or even a partner role with, and being seen as someone who can write a check can raise their standing among other founders.
Some scouts will undoubtedly mourn the end of Sequoia’s program. Among them is Station F boss Roxanne Varza, who wrote on LinkedIn that she was “sad” to hear that the program was getting cut off, and “hope[d] that other funds [w]on’t follow suit.” Varza, a former Sequoia scout from 2020 to 2025, told TechCrunch that she had no information beyond what has been shared publicly, but observed that becoming a scout had often been a stepping stone for aspiring investment managers. And the scout programs may have helped them get there — allowed them to build an investment track record, allowed them to build relationships with various funds directly, and more,” she wrote to TechCrunch.
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