Luciana Lixandru on startup execution
From Getting Europe into the Fast Lane | Eileen O'Mara, Luciana Lixandru & Marc Lemaître · · Slush
“If you ask me what's the one indicator of a startup's future success it's speed of execution — it's not not making mistakes because everyone's going to make mistakes, but how fast do you make the mistakes and recover from them?”
On , Luciana Lixandru, Partner at Sequoia Europe at Sequoia Capital, spoke about startup execution during Getting Europe into the Fast Lane | Eileen O'Mara, Luciana Lixandru & Marc Lemaître on Slush.
About Luciana Lixandru
Luciana Lixandru, a partner at Sequoia Capital, has spoken at several European tech events in 2024 and 2025, including Slush, Italian Tech Week, and StrictlyVC London. She stated that she has "never felt as good" about the European tech ecosystem and described the current period as a "watershed moment" for the region. Lixandru noted that while access to capital has improved for European founders, she expressed concern about founders moving to Silicon Valley too early, saying it is "not good for Europe." She advised founders to "solve a hard problem" and emphasized that "speed of execution" is a key indicator of a startup's future success. Lixandru discussed Sequoia's investment focus, stating that roughly 60% of the firm's recent investments are in AI-native companies. She identified robotics and fintech as particularly interesting sectors and noted that Europe has a strong foundation in robotics and AI due to its top universities. Regarding the macroeconomic environment, she said Sequoia advises founders to prepare for a "prolonged period of difficult macro" but added that mission-driven founders persist regardless of market conditions. Lixandru also highlighted that Sequoia views the US and Europe as "one market" for technology and that the firm is "open for business in Europe."