"Sequoia had been an early investor in PayPal; its best-known partner, Michael Moritz, sat on the company's board and was close to PayPal founder Peter Thiel, who had recently launched Palantir. But Sequoia proved no more receptive to Palantir than any of the other VCs that Karp and his team visited; according to Karp, Moritz spent most of the meeting absentmindedly doodling in his notepad."
"But the meetings on Sand Hill Road weren't entirely fruitless. After listening to Karp's pitch and politely declining to put any money into Palantir, a partner with one venture capital firm had a suggestion: if Palantir was really intent on working with the government, it could reach out to In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture capital arm. In-Q-Tel had been started a few years earlier, in 1999 (the name was a playful reference to "Q," the technology guru in James Bond films)."
Palantir's initial fundraising efforts in 2004 faltered when top Silicon Valley venture capital firms, including Sequoia Capital, declined to invest. Sequoia partner Michael Moritz appeared disengaged during the pitch, prompting CEO Alex Karp's lasting resentment toward professional investors. Karp later said he wished he had told Moritz to 'go fuck himself.' One VC partner suggested that Palantir pursue In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture-capital arm. In-Q-Tel was established in 1999 by CIA Director George Tenet to help the intelligence community incubate start-ups and maintain a technological edge. The suggestion opened a potential route to government funding aligned with Palantir's focus on intelligence clients.
Read at Fast Company
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