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Shaun Maguire
Partner at Sequoia Capital
Shaun Maguire is a prominent venture capitalist and partner at Sequoia Capital, a leading venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley. He has been with Sequoia since July 2019 and has played a significant role in investing in various innovative companies, including AMP Robotics, Knowde, and SpaceX.15
Education and Early Career
Maguire holds a PhD in Physics from Caltech, where he specialized in quantum gravity. He also has master's degrees in Statistics from Stanford University and Control and Dynamical Systems from Caltech, along with a BA in Mathematics from the University of Southern California.14 Before joining Sequoia, he was a partner at Google Ventures, where he led investments in notable startups like IonQ and Dandelion Energy.34
Professional Achievements
At Sequoia, Maguire has focused on early-stage investments and has been involved in several successful ventures. He co-founded Expanse, a cybersecurity company acquired by Palo Alto Networks for $1 billion, and has served on the board of Luminar Technologies since 2021.15 His investment philosophy emphasizes finding highly motivated founders who are deeply passionate about their missions.5
Controversies
Recently, Maguire has been in the spotlight due to his outspoken support for Israel amidst ongoing geopolitical tensions. His social media activity has drawn criticism, leading to calls from some tech executives for his removal from Sequoia Capital. Critics have accused him of promoting divisive narratives related to the Israel-Palestine conflict.26
Personal Interests
In addition to his professional pursuits, Maguire is known for his interests in space, video gaming, and marathon running. He has traveled to over 90 countries and has a background in competitive gaming, having played at a high level in "Counter-Strike" during his youth.45
Highlights
People have no idea how sophisticated nation state activities are
If you are a target of opportunity for China it’s not unheard of for them to dedicate O(1000) humans dedicated to compromising you
This is what happened w their NYT hack in 2013, which was designed to send a message
They will compromise your friend’s friend’s friend to compromise you
And work down that chain until your friend invites you on a fun trip on a private plane to Mexico/Thailand/wherever (example)
Where some night you have a very boozy dinner and then you show back up at the house and some girls are there
You’re drunk and make a mistake and then you’re owned until you’re disposable
Nation state kompromat for “target’s of choice” is a system designed to find any individual’s weakness (you’re bisexual; a gambler, an alcoholic, drug addict, have a debt, adulterous, etc) and then force them into a situation of maximum amplification of this weakness
99% of people can be compromised using nation state capabilities and tactics
https://t.co/EO5JEArsZa
In cybersecurity there’s a concept of “target of opportunity” vs “target of choice”
When China chose to hack the NYT in 2012, after David Barboza’s historic Wen Jiobao reporting
China dedicated thousands of hackers to hack the NYT mainly to prove a point and as a deterrent
They went so far as to hack reporter’s grandmas, which they used to leapfrog to NYT staff
If you are a target of choice against a super power… good luck
This doesn’t excuse Jensen — he made a catastrophic mistake
But it’s important context that when you’re a top “target of choice” it’s a scale of manipulation that a civilian can’t imagine
@mattyglesias
https://t.co/EO5JEArsZa

