Unlocking The Wisdom Of The Crowds: Our Investment in Sequen
By Ian Sigalow
May 13, 2025
Wisdom of the crowds beats the genius of a few.
Have you ever wondered how YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok know exactly what you want?
A decade ago, a team of researchers at Google turned text into vectors, laying the foundation for a new way of understanding information. That breakthrough evolved, shaping nearly every digital interaction—how we search, shop, listen, and watch.
As the math became more sophisticated, the core truth remained: The more data a model sees, the smarter it can become. But how do these companies predict the future?
The answer is that they don’t. Instead of trying to predict what you want, the latest technology molds it. Yes, the largest consumer internet companies are using reinforcement learning to change user behavior. That is how Instagram suggests a new frying pan before you even realize you need one.
(This might be a red pill moment if you thought you really wanted new kitchenware.)
Today, this intelligence is no longer limited to hyperscalers. Sequen is one of the first companies to unlock it for the masses.
Its API-first platform powers search, recommendations, and chat, running on a common goal model that learns across customers without leaking data. At scale, this business has a natural network effect, with the potential to break companies out of the data silos that have held them back.
We have been trialing this inside our portfolio for the past six months and Sequen outperformed every entrenched competitor we reviewed. They have proven technology, and the team’s business mastery is equally impressive.
We believe Zoe Weil, Mo Afshar, and Alex Thom have Collison-level brilliance in AI, having built large-scale systems at Etsy, DataMiner, Anthropic, and more. But what truly set them apart was Zoe’s relentless pursuit of some of the biggest names in commerce and rewards—getting billion-dollar giants on the phone and into the pipeline.
She knew exactly who she was building for.
From our first customer introduction, Sequen went from zero to a million dollars in annual recurring revenue. Next up is targeting ten million.
The Sequen team embodies what Justine Musk says anyone who wants to succeed must do: Master two domains. Theirs? Innovative technology and enterprise business strategy.
We closed our investment on February 28. Congratulations Zoe, Mo, Alex, and the entire Sequen team. We are excited to watch you help shape the future of technology.
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