Why Did Michael Moritz Step Back From Sequoia?

Michael Moritz stepped back from Sequoia because he was sick, and he believes leaders should not stick around once they have decided, for whatever reason, not to lead. He went cold turkey. He still tried to help Sequoia and stayed involved with companies, but only as an individual contributor, not as leadership.

He got out of leadership meetings as quickly as possible because lingering there is not fair, and he had lived through that himself. Running Sequoia had been monomania and obsession: everything, every single day of the week. Leaving let him write. About 25 years ago he and his wife started a foundation and spent more time on it. He has lived in San Francisco for pushing 50 years, not quite, and with co-founder Griff Gaffney he has spent more time trying to help the city turn around and flourish. He started a media business called the San Francisco Standard and advises what used to be called Sequoia Heritage.

The mix is fulfilling and unfulfilling at the same time. A whole variety of things is not the obsessive, monomaniacal focus on one thing. He misses aspects of running Sequoia, and he knows full well he would not want to return to that way of life.