Alfred Lin

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Alfred Lin
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Lin in 2019
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Taiwan[1]
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EducationHarvard University (BA)
Stanford University (MS)
OccupationTemplate:Pluralize from textPartner at Sequoia Capital
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SpouseTemplate:Pluralize from textRebecca LinTemplate:Pluralize from text
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Alfred Lin (Chinese: 林君叡; born 1972) is a Taiwanese-American venture capitalist who has served as the managing partner of Sequoia Capital since 2025.[2][3] He joined Sequoia in 2010 as partner, later taking over global investment operations alongside Pat Grady.

Lin was the COO, CFO, and chairman of online retailer Zappos from 2005 to 2010.[4][5]

Early life and education

Lin was born in Taiwan. At the age of six, his parents immigrated to the New York, where Lin attended Stuyvesant High School.[6][7] He then graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics and earned a master's degree in statistics from Stanford University.

Career

While at Harvard, Lin met Tony Hsieh, the future CEO of Zappos.[6] Hsieh first recognized Lin's business acumen while running a student-owned pizza parlor at Harvard. Lin, his best customer, was buying whole pizzas, splitting them into slices, and selling them for a profit.[6] In 1996, Lin dropped out of a Ph.D. program at Stanford to join Hsieh, Sanjay Mandan, and Ali Partovi at LinkExchange as CFO.[2] 18 months later LinkExchange sold to Microsoft for $265 million.[8] Later, before joining Zappos, Lin was the VP of Finance and Business Development of Tellme Networks (MSFT). With Tony Hsieh he also co-founded Venture Frogs, an incubator and investment firm.[9] Venture Frogs invested in a variety of tech and Internet startups, including Ask Jeeves, OpenTable, Tellme Networks, and Zappos.[10]

From 2005 to 2010, Lin was chairman, COO, and CFO.[11] At Zappos, Lin was responsible for all financial, administrative, and warehouse operations.[12] He was also responsible for company growth and scaling, bringing the company to its first profitable year in 2006 and to Amazon.com's acquisition of the company in 2009 for $1.2 billion.[13][14][15][16] According to TechCrunch, "Hsieh made at least $214 million; Lin made at least $18 million, with the Venture Frogs shares netting an additional $163 million."[17]

Lin left Zappos in 2010 to join the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital as a partner.[18][13]

Sequoia Capital

TechCrunch has stated that Alfred has the "Midas touch", since "every company he's worked for has been acquired, and the smallest deal was $265 million."[2] Lin later helped Tellme Networks which was sold to Microsoft for $800 million.[19] After that, Lin helped form Zappos to later be acquired by Amazon for $1.2 billion. Lin has invested in Airbnb, Achievers, Stella & Dot, Houzz, Humble Bundle, Kiwi, Romotive, Moovit, Styleseat, Uber, and Cardpool (acquired by Blackhawk Networks), AppBistro / MMTG Labs (acquired by InMobi), and SalesCrunch (acquired by ClearSlide).[20][21][22] He specializes in consumer internet, enterprise and mobile companies.[23]

Lin was an early investor in Zipline, a medicine drone delivery company with operations in Rwanda.[24] He also invested in the Palo Alto-based security company Cobalt Robotics, and sits on its board of directors.[25] In 2021, Lin made a failed investment on FTX and represented Sequoia on its advisory board.[26][27][28]

In November 2025, Lin was appointed the managing partner of Sequoia, to serve jointly with Pat Grady, succeeding Roelof Botha.[3]

Recognition

In 2013, Forbes named Lin as one of the "30 Most Influential People in Tech".[29] Lin and his work have been profiled in national publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, BusinessWeek, and Fortune, as well as CNBC.[11][30][31][32]

References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Alfred Lin, Zappos Chairman and COO". meet innovators. 4 December 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Arrington, Michael "Alfred Lin Has The Midas Touch: The Man With $2 Billion In Acquisitions Under His Belt", TechCrunch, July 28, 2009.
  3. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Jin, Peter Rudegeair and Berber (2025-11-04). "Sequoia Capital Leader Exits in VC Shake-Up". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2025-11-04.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Manninen, JP (April 9, 2010). "These boots are made for walking: No. 2 executive leaves Zappos". VentureBeat.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Alfred Lin Zappos Profile". Zappos.com.
  6. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."I Am CNBC Tony Hsieh Transcript". CNBC. August 15, 2007. Archived from the original on June 12, 2011.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Alfred Lin". Sequoia Capital. Retrieved 2025-08-18.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ritchie, Josh. "10 Questions with Zappos COO/CFO, Alfred Lin". BuySight. Archived from the original on 2010-10-14. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  9. ^ Lee, Tom.Venture Frogs Internet Restaurant Logs on to the San Francisco Scene Script error: No such module "webarchive".. Asian Week. August 17, 2000.
  10. ^ Nelson, Erik. Venture Frogs in a Cyber-Marsh Script error: No such module "webarchive".. Profit Magazine. January 2000.
  11. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rich, Motoko (April 8, 2011). "Why Is This Man Smiling?". The New York Times.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.FOWLER, NINA. "VIDEO: Sequoia Capital partner Alfred Lin on Zappos, Zalando and solving hard problems". Venture Village. Archived from the original on 2013-12-14. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  13. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Arrington, Michael (April 9, 2010). "Alfred Lin To Leave Zappos, Join Sequoia Capital". TechCrunch.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Stone, Brad (July 22, 2009). "Amazon's Expanding With Deal for Zappos". The New York Times.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Wingfield, Nick (July 23, 2009). "Amazon Opens Wallet, Buys Zappos". Wall Street Journal.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rimm-Kaufman, Alan. "Alfred Lin: Zappos At Break-even Through 2005, Profitable in '06 and '07". RKG.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Lacy, Sarah (July 27, 2009). "What Everyone Made from the Zappos Sale". TechCrunch.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cook, John (April 9, 2010). "Zappos COO Alfred Lin to leave for Sequoia Capital in early 2011". Puget Sound Business Journal.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Malik, Om. "Tellme Price – $800 Million, or More". Gigaom. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."InMobi Acquires MMTG Labs, The Startup Behind AppBistro And AppGalleries". TechCrunch. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ha, Anthony (October 15, 2010). "UberCab raises $1.25M to end your futile search for taxis". VentureBeat.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."SalesCrunch Gathers $1.4M From First Round, Accel And Angels". DowJones.com. January 12, 2011. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  23. ^ "Bio: Alfred Lin" Script error: No such module "webarchive"., Sequoia Capital
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Drone startup backed by Allen, Yang to deliver medical supplies in Rwanda". 2016.
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Cobalt Robotics Receives $13 Million Series A". Wall Street Journal. 2018-04-02. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Alfred Lin". Forbes.
  27. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kokalitcheva, Kia (2023-01-13). "Sequoia Capital partner says firm was "misled" by FTX". Axios.
  28. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Loizos, Connie (2023-01-13). "Sequoia Capital's Alfred Lin in his first public interview since the implosion of FTX (video)". www.yahoo.com.
  29. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Prive, Tanya (January 7, 2013). "The 30 Most Influential People in Tech". Forbes.
  30. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Chapman, Lizette. "VC in 2013: Sequoia's Alfred Lin on Not Lamenting the 'Series A Crunch'". Wall Street Journal.
  31. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Greene, Rebecca (6 March 2012). "Zappos Chairman Alfred Lin Asks HBS MBAs to Think Big, Follow Their Passion, and Pay Attention to Details". Harvard Business School. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  32. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Profile: Alfred Lin". Forbes.
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