People and markets. These are the two core primitives in our business.

Investing in a Person

In 2019 we invested in Kais Khimji – not as a founder, but as a partner. Here is an excerpt from our investment thesis on Kais:

Long term, Kais has a chance to be exceptional. Dating back to high school, he has always been the hardest worker in the room. His appetite for learning is exceptional. He is thoughtful about companies and people. He takes initiative. He receives feedback well, and he acts on it. He cares about relationships and makes a genuine effort to connect with people. He is the consummate underdog. He has tenacity in spades, a relentless appetite for self-improvement, and the IQ & EQ to be exceptional long term.

We probably didn’t need to use the word “exceptional” three times, but we were excited! 

Investing in a Market

Fast forward a few years, and Kais had some news for us: he was becoming a founder. We were sad, but only for a moment. This was his calling, and we were delighted to see him pursue it. Even when we were first getting to know him, he was talking about this idea he had for an app that could optimize the world’s time. 

“Return on time” has always been part of Sequoia’s lingua franca, so this market is close to our hearts. Here is an excerpt from our investment thesis in Blockit:

Time is our most precious resource. For most people, that resource is sub-optimally allocated with high-touch, high-friction, expensive scheduling. Thanks to the magic of LLMs, Blockit is building a world in which time is optimally allocated, painlessly. This takes the shape of a freemium subscription business with high virality (scheduling is a multi-player game), strong network effects (more calendar inventory leads to better matching which leads to a better experience), and high monetization (replacing work, not software). Blockit has a chance to become a $1Bn+ revenue business, and Kais will make sure it gets there.

When People & Markets Collide

The collision of people and markets produces businesses.  Kais and cofounder John Han have assembled a small but elite team perfectly suited to the task at hand, and their progress to date has been impressive.

One qualitative litmus test we apply to new investments is the following: could this become one of the most important companies of the next couple decades? 

Blockit passes this test with flying colors. Imagine a world in which you’re more productive at work and more present at home. You’re both happier and healthier. It’s a pure pareto gain on life. This is the future Blockit promises.

It is an honor to partner with Kais, John, and the rest of the Blockitons, and to support them in building this dream into a reality.