Luciana LixandruPartner, Sequoia Capital

From Romania to Partner at top VC firm! 😲

Name: From Romania to Partner at top VC firm! 😲
Uploaded: 2022-10-17T14:22:54+00:00
Duration: 1 min 9 s
Channel: Luciana Lixandru
Description: Luciana Lixandru recounts her personal and professional trajectory, beginning with her upbringing in a small Romanian town and a teenage ambition to…

17 Oct 2022 · 1 min

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1:09

Luciana Lixandru recounts her personal and professional trajectory, beginning with her upbringing in a small Romanian town and a teenage ambition to travel to the United States. At 16, she pursued a scholarship, securing a full ride to Georgetown University, which she describes as life‑changing. After graduating, she entered investment banking in 2007, a common path at the time, and later worked closely with influential European startup founders who helped shape the continent’s venture ecosystem. Her experience and network led to an opportunity with Sequoia Capital, a firm known for its thoughtful geographic expansion. She joined Sequoia about a year and a half ago, viewing the role as a once‑in‑a‑lifetime chance to contribute to the firm’s growth in new markets.

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I was born and raised in a small town in Romania. 100,000 people. I joke. I think it's the 18th largest city in Romania. When I was 16, I had this idea which at the time seemed crazy. And the idea was that I wanted to go to the us I had not traveled much. I had not been on a plane by that point in my life. So crazy idea, let's call it and luck. Because I needed a scholarship and I applied to a few universities and. And Georgetown changed my life forever. They gave me a full scholarship and my family supported me and I went. It was eye opening and I was not one of these people who knew what they wanted to do. I didn't think I was going to be a lawyer or a doctor. I liked numbers. I knew that. So I went into investment banking like a lot of people did back in 2007. I would say the rest is history. I was very fortunate to work with some incredible founders who really shaped the venture industry in Europe. And then I got to know Sequoia and you know, Sequoia is so thoughtful when they enter a new geography that I thought it was really a once in a lifetime opportunity to help them was a pretty convincing proposition. So here we are. I started a year and a half ago now.