pierre r lamond ( born 1930 ) is a venture capitalist in silicon valley , who has specialised in semiconductors , systems and cleantech .

he was a partner at sequoia capital based in menlo park , california from 1981 until he left to join vinod khosla 's khosla ventures as general partner in march 2009 .

he left khosla ventures in 2013 and joined eclipse ventures as a partner in 2014

pierre lamond

pierre lamond is a member of the eclipse investment team . prior to that , pierre worked with formation 8 , khosla ventures and sequoia capital .
in addition to making angel investments , pierre is an advisor to formation 8 .
pierre lamond , a silicon valley veteran , was planning to retire from sequoia capital this year . instead , mr . lamond , 78 , has decided to join khosla ventures , the venture firm founded by vinod khosla .
it’s been known for some time that sequoia capital’s partner mark kvamme is married to the daughter of sequoia partner pierre lamond . no big deal , right ?
pierre lamond , an icon in the silicon valley world of venture capital , has joined khosla ventures , the venture firm run by another highly respected venture capitalist vinod khosla .
now it emerges that , through reporting of pe week’s alex haislip ( sorry the full version is subscription only ) , that david lamond , son of pierre ( pierre pictured here ) , is an investor at hedge fund artis capital . another family connection , and again , who cares ?
pierre is a native of france . he graduated with a bsee and ms in physics from toulouse university .
pierre lamond is a pioneer of the semiconductor industry . he started his career in 1957 as an engineer at transitron electronics before joining dr . gordon e . moore’s r & d team at fairchild semiconductor . while at fairchild , pierre oversaw the development of advanced high - frequency transistors and the first generation of digital integrated circuits .
arthur conan doyle : a memoir by rev . john lamond ( john murray , 1931 )
“this is not a lightweight commitment on pierre’s side , ” yu told me by phone . “he will come into the office , mentor partners and entrepreneurs and advise on investments… we wanted to have as much of pierre as we could . ”
advisor , investor pierre lamond is a pioneer of the semiconductor industry . he started his career in 1957 as an engineer at transitron electronics before joining dr . gordon e . moore’s r & d ; team at fairchild semiconductor .
that company , called soladigm , uses semiconductor processes to make the glass . lamond
was a founder of national semiconductor ,
khosla notes . he added :
pierre is a very technical person . we ' re doing a lot of that kind of stuff .
pierre left fairchild in 1967 to cofound the national semiconductor corporation ( nsm ) , where he was vice president and general manager , integrated circuits . following ceo roles at coherent radiation and advent , pierre returned to national semiconductor in 1977 to assume the role of chief technology officer and vp , general manager of advanced products .
after leaving khosla ventures after its last fund , silicon valley icon pierre lamond has resurfaced in a new role . the veteran venture capitalist has taken an advisory position at formation 8 , the three - year - old venture firm founded by joe lonsdale , jim kim and brian koo .
lamond is a pioneer of the semiconductor industry . he started his career as an engineer at transitron electronics before joining dr .
pierre spent three years as a general partner at khosla ventures serving on the boards of skybox imaging ( google ) , cogenra , seeo , avogy , seamicro ( amd ) and heartvista . pierre was one of the founding members of eclipse and currently works with : kindred , flex logix , diassess , cerebras , and light .
of course , the public coffers can only profit if a firm like sequoia does well , and sequoia did do well ( in contrast to most venture firms , which aren’t doing so well ) . but it’s important that the public be aware if its investments in venture firms are riddled with favoritism , especially if firms aren’t doing well . pierre lamond reportedly lost $ 250 , 000 from his personal investment in the cks group , an ad agency , which was run by mark kvamme ( pictured here ) in the late 1990s . it was also a time when lamond’s firm was taking money from uc . even then , lamond’s son , david , was partaking of lamond’s investments .
, the leading developer of reconfigurable rtl ip cores and software , today announced that it has appointed industry - veteran and eclipse ventures general partner pierre lamond to its board of directors , effective immediately . lamond joins the growing list of well - known executives at flex logix , a fast - growing silicon valley start - up that has developed an innovative reconfigurable rtl platform that will change the way chips are designed today and in the future .
in 1981 , pierre joined sequoia capital as a general partner , where he played a pivotal role in the expansion of the semiconductor , systems , and software portfolios . while at sequoia , pierre was chairman of the board at cypress semiconductor ( cy ) , microchip semiconductor , vitesse semiconductor , open - silicon inc . , redback networks , verisity , and plumtree . he was also a director at mellanox technologies and xoom . pierre ran , on a temporary basis , engineering departments at cisco systems ( csco ) and c - cube .
lamond , who was a founder of the early chip company national semiconductor , was last year planning to retire from sequoia . instead , he says he was lured away from that idea through conversations with khosla , who impressed lamond with his focus on funding bold , scientific companies .
pierre spent three years as a general partner at khosla ventures serving on the boards of skybox imaging ( google ) , cogenra , seeo , avogy , seamicro ( amd ) and heartvista .
lamond , in an interview with forbes , said he started talking to his sequoia partners about retiring about a year ago . but he began discussions with khosla ventures founder vinod khosla , a brainy sun microsystems co - founder whom lamond said he has known for 20 years , late last year .
angela joined stanford from khosla ventures where she worked on pierre lamond’s team , working closely with both the wider investment team and portfolio companies . angela began her career as a marketing strategist for mccann worldgroup where she conducted market and consumer research for brands such as microsoft , hp , cathay pacific , and the boys and girls club of america .
in 1981 , pierre joined sequoia capital as a general partner , serving as chairman of the board at cypress semiconductor ( cy ) , microchip semiconductor , vitesse semiconductor , open - silicon inc . , redback networks , verisity , and plumtree . pierre spent three years as a general partner at khosla ventures serving on the boards of skybox imaging ( google ) , cogenra , seeo , avogy , seamicro ( amd ) and heartvista .
now , one sequoia partner has decided to look for good times elsewhere , too . incredibly , that partner is 78 - year - old pierre r . lamond , a silicon valley legend who has been at the menlo park , calif . - based firm since 1981 . starting in april , he will begin a new job just across the street with a competitor , khosla ventures .
although we invest anywhere from $ 50 , 000 for a seed investment to $ 10 million , we are not bankers , nor do we hire people who are bankers ,
says partner pierre lamond .
all our people have at least a half - dozen years of experience as engineers or marketers . we are not passive investors . we don ' t just lend money .
yu first got to know lamond after joining youtube as cfo , where the veteran vc was advising the young team prior to their sale to youtube . they worked together again when yu joined sequoia and later when he found himself also at khosla ventures . kim would also work with lamond at khosla ventures before moving on to found formation 8 .
prior to joining sequoia capital , pierre cofounded national semiconductor in 1967 where he held the position of cto and vp advanced products division . from 1962 to 1967 he was with fairchild semiconductor as vp & gm , integrated circuits division .
a few months ago , however , it became clear lamond had left khosla ventures after he was not listed on a regulatory filing related to the firm’s newest fund , and his bio disappeared from the venture firm’s website . at that time , lamond told fortune that he wasn’t retired , and that he might become an adviser to one or two firms .
so when they heard that lamond was leaving khosla ventures , he and yu reached out to see if their mentor would be interested in joining formation 8 . lamond didn’t want the full responsibilities of a partner , but agreed to be heavily involved in the firm . and as part of his advisory role , he’ll be allowed to invest along with formation 8 whenever they choose to back a company .
in march 2009 , his fund was joined by pierre lamond as a general partner , following which they completed fundraising for two new funds to invest in clean - tech and information technology start - ups . they had secured a total of $ 1 billion worth investor commitments which included $ 750 million to invest in traditional early stage and growth stage companies , and $ 250 million for their second fund – khosla seed , to focus on investing in higher - risk opportunities .
mr . lamond recognized his own investment philosophy in mr . khosla’s retro approach , he said . “khosla ventures is going back to the source , to the way venture capital used to be done , ” mr . lamond said . “a focus on growing companies from scratch is what venture capital is all about — not just because this is exciting , but it is also the way to make money . ”
lamond , 78 , is renowned in valley circles as one of the hardest working venture capitalists , but he also prefers to work behind the scenes , and so doesn’t have the same public profile of other big - name venture capitalists , such as khosla or john doerr , of kleiner perkins caufield & byers . ( picture at left top shows lamond in 1967 ; at left bottom is a more current picture . )
lamond will stay on the boards of the three sequoia portfolio companies : luxim , which makes energy - efficient lighting ; santur , a tunable laser company and achates power , which is making a fuel - efficient diesel engine .
lamond has been in tech for more than five decades , getting his start in the then - nascent semiconductor business . he held positions in fairchild semiconductor and its spinoff national semiconductor before entering venture investing in the early 1980s .
khosla told forbes that lamond
adds a lot of great experience to our team .
he said lamond recently became increasingly interested in some deals that khosla ventures was pursuing - - deals khosla described as involving
big technology breakthroughs
in areas such as lighting , bioplastics and biofuels . khosla ventures even has funded a start - up making newfangled window glass that can block light in the summer but let it through in the winter , he noted .
lamond said when he informed his sequoia partners about his decision ,
they were very courteous and very pleasant and wished me good luck .
it is highly unusual for senior vcs to defect to other firms , partly because of the complicated economics of taking stakes in illiquid start - ups - - and dealing with those interests after a partner leaves a firm . khosla said lamond had intended to retire , so sequoia was not counting on his sticking around .
at formation 8 , lamond says he will work to mentor the founding partners and entrepreneurs they invest in . he plans to sit in on board meetings of portfolio companies and offer advice when he can , as well as advising formation 8 founders when they are deciding whether or not to make an investment in specific companies . lamond also hopes to help out with recruiting , especially as the firm is looking to bring on another investment professional to join the team .
“that’s what pierre is uniquely equipped to do , because he has run operations and founded a company , ” he said . “he understands what entrepreneurs are dealing with , can help them with technical problems and engage at a level that an m . b . a . can’t , ” mr . khosla said .
“when i think about someone with pierre’s proven track record , his value - add and legendary reputation… he had his choice to be an advisor or mentor at any company and any firm in the valley . having him on board is another validation of what we’re doing [ at formation 8 ] , ” yu said .
lamond told the new york times that he will not focus on one specific sector but that he is interested in companies that deal with energy storage , lithium - ion batteries , water purification and conservation , carbon dioxide and the transport of electricity . this fits nicely with khosla ventures , because that firm has focused heavily on clean - tech investments . lamond has already invested in a khosla portfolio company , the lithium - ion battery start - up seeo , as an angel investor .
for kim , the experience he brings will be invaluable to formation 8 . even before the advisory role was official , kim says he would reach out to lamond whenever he would get stuck or need advice while working to build the firm .
the move also comes at a time when khosla is trying to raise its first fund from institutional investors , and so lamond is likely to help with that effort . until now khosla has relied on most of his own money to fund companies the firm has supported .
urltoken ' s experience is an unusual one . as lamond points out , sequoia prefers companies entering into markets that are growing very fast or don ' t exist yet .
typically our style of investment is to invest early ,
says lamond .
first , we try to identify potentially profitable sectors of the market before everyone else does . at that point , we can get involved in the seed and first financing rounds , become active at the board level and participate in establishing strategy and start recruiting a management team .
, co - founder and ceo of flex logix .
we look forward to having his contributions at flex logix . this is an exciting time in our company ' s history as we embark on our next phase of mainstream commercialization . pierre ' s experience and industry connections will be key as we execute on the aggressive business plan we have in place .
last , it scrutinizes the management .
we look for a management that drives itself very hard ,
says lamond .
we don ' t want to drive them or be micromanagers . but we are tough taskmasters and want to be associated with a winning team .
mr . lamond will stay on the boards of the three sequoia portfolio companies he is actively involved with , he said . they are luxim , which makes energy - efficient lighting ; santur , a tunable laser company and achates power , which is making a fuel - efficient diesel engine .
frankly , it was time for me to move on ,
said lamond , who will be a senior partner with khosla , a five - year - old firm that invests in traditional high tech but mainly in energy - related companies .
sometimes people stick around too long .
technical experience - - particularly for a firm that invests heavily in semiconductor , chip , networking and internet companies - - is crucial , says lamond , who before becoming a partner at sequoia in 1981 was himself a founder and technical director of national semiconductor nsm and general manager of fairchild ' s integrated circuit division .
“khosla ventures is going back to the source , to the way venture capital used to be done , ” lamond told the new york times . “a focus on growing companies from scratch is what venture capital is all about — not just because this is exciting , but it is also the way to make money . ”
khosla has funded companies like soladigm , which makes window glass that can block light in the summer but let it through in the winter , notes forbes , which also has a good story about the transition . soladigm uses semiconductor processes to make the glass , something that lamond can bring value to , based on his experience .
lamond joined sequoia capital in 1981 and led investments in a number of its semiconductor and infrastructure companies , including cypress semiconductor , microchip semiconductor , vitesse semiconductor , and redback networks . in 2009 he joined khosla ventures as part of its kv iii fund , where he was interested in backing cleantech and research - heavy industrial startups .
“i was really looking at phasing out , but an opportunity like this comes and i thought it was worthwhile , ” said mr . lamond , who was a founder of national semiconductor and an executive at fairchild , advent and coherent . “you’re as old as you think you are , and i don’t feel that i’m 78 . ”
chips & technologies and weitek have avoided direct fabrication of chips , farming out their production to japanese and american companies that have excess fab space . but other startups , like cypress , performance semiconductor , and integrated device technology , have created some of the most advanced fabs in the industry . lamond’s cypress—attacked by sanders—has decisively swept by the
asked why he did not stay at sequoia if he wanted to keep working , lamond said he was
very excited
by khosla ' s penchant for investing
in some very advanced , very risky , research - oriented start - ups .
at sequoia ,
i thought it was time for me to phase out .
he also exudes the stern demeanor exuded by sequoia capital partners , such as co - founder don valentine . the firm is famous for shying away from media attention . it was lamond , for example , who would attend the early board meetings at video - sharing company youtube , and put pressure on the youtube founders , asking them each time how their traffic was coming along . youtube co - founder steve chen once told me it was lamond’s stern questioning — especially whenever traffic tapered off — that kept the founders on the edge of their seats during board meetings , frightening them so much so that they’d do anything they could to make sure traffic kept growing every month .
at sequoia , where he has been a partner for 27 years , mr . lamond focused on semiconductor , systems and software start - ups . khosla ventures , which mr . khosla founded in 2004 , has made a name for itself investing in clean technology and also invests in information technology start - ups . mr . lamond said he will not focus on one specific sector but that he is interested in companies that deal with energy storage , lithium - ion batteries , water purification and conservation , carbon dioxide and the transport of electricity . he has already invested in a khosla portfolio company , the lithium - ion battery start - up seeo , as an angel investor .
the first post - mortem biographies were written by the swedish viktor olsson in 1930 : sir arthur conan doyle : liv och minnen , and by conan doyle ' s friend john lamond in 1931 : arthur conan doyle : a memoir . since then , not least than 23 full biographies have been written and others about parts of his life .
in a memorable encounter at a dataquest conference , jerry sanders , chairman of advanced micro devices , confronted pierre lamond , once a leading figure at national semiconductor and now a leading venture capitalist . “you took my best guys to cypress , ” sanders charged , “and they made 3 million last year on 14 million in sales . fast static rams . big deal . static rams are not exactly a major innovation . [ intel introduced them in 1972 . ] but so far , so good . the problem is what they’ll do next . they succeed by being focused . but all these small firms want to get big , and that means unfocused . after the first 50 million , believe me , it gets much harder . you can’t fill large fabs with niche products . so far these companies have just ripped off the big firms without contributing anything significant . ” 1
according to yu , having lamond’s experience and help is not just a value - add for partners and portfolio companies , but also serves as a bit of validation for the firm’s early success . while just a few years old , its first fund has already seen a couple of exits with oculus and relateiq , and it expects to see many more as time goes on .
lamond tried to laugh off the complaints of sanders and others as merely the maundering of old men who want the world to stop turning as soon as they get on top . that’s an understandable response from today’s young entrepreneurs . but amid the late 1980s carnage in microchips , with the japanese sweeping ahead in some measures of market share , the easy answers beg the question .
“i’m what you might call a consigliere , ” lamond told me by phone . he said he didn’t have a specific charter at formation 8 , but will provide guidance whenever and wherever he can . “when you think about the venture business… you don’t learn that in business school . you need to go through an apprenticeship and the guys at formation 8 know that , ” he said .
tom and justin – your comments are so unjustified and undeserved . do you two really “know yourselves” more than this pierre just because he happens to be good at his job and is solicited to build a great organization based on his experience ? his life’s work is infinitely more important than either of you two’s existence as far as providing resources and opportunity to build companies that offer livelihood to so many people . don’t be philosophically cynical and judging of other people’s desire to do something . in short , get a life .
flex logix has the unique combination of technology , talent , value proposition , and business model to build a multi - billion dollar market cap business ,
said lamond .
now , just nine months after our initial investment , we see the company making incredible progress in both engineering and customer acquisition . i ' m excited to have the opportunity to work with geoff and the team .
sequoia made a killing off its investment into video site , youtube when it was sold to google for $ 1 . 6 billion , and eyebrows were raised when it emerged that the obscure artis capital had also been in on the investment . who were these guys ? one of its partners has since bought the $ 20 million tiburon estate of andre agassi . is it a coincidence that david lamond , who has been with artis since at least 2005 appears to have been among the few to benefit from the youtube investment ? and is it a coincidence that since that time , artis has landed as an investor alongside sequoia in a surprising number of deals , from aruba in sept . 05 , to open silicon in oct . 05 and adbrite in february , to name just a few ?
in october , venture capital concern sequoia capital gathered the ceos of its portfolio companies to warn them about the coming economic meltdown - - and to scare them into slashing costs . the first slide in sequoia ' s presentation at the special meeting was headlined
rip : good times .
the implication ? not all the start - ups would make it .
that all could be interpreted as a backhanded swipe at what most other vc firms - - including sequoia - - are doing these days . khosla , however , called sequoia one of the
great firms in venture capital
and noted that his firm invests alongside sequoia frequently .
but , overall , most vcs are investing in
incremental stuff ,
khosla said , such as new social networking sites , and not backing fundamentally risky technologies .
the venture industry has lost its ability to create a genentech or a sun or a compaq
today .
sequoia has started putting cash into
clean
technology deals but is better known recently for backing web companies . it had a big win when google scooped up online video site youtube for $ 1 . 6 billion . but the jury ' s still out on many of sequoia ' s other , more narrowly focused internet plays , including online messaging site meebo ,
widget
company rockyou and web real estate site trulia .
clean technology , of course , is unproven , too . there have been only a handful of blockbuster
exits
- - meaning initial public offerings or big merger and acquisition deals - - involving clean - tech companies . even khosla acknowledged that his firm had to write off two early investments in corn ethanol companies . the market tanked after corn prices rose , making corn - based ethanol less price competitive with traditional fuels .
meanwhile , khosla ventures is ramping up its operations . though many vc firms are making fewer investments and finding it tougher to raise money in today ' s depressed environment , the firm is raising a new fund worth as much as $ 1 billion and intends to hire more general partners .
khosla declined to comment on any fundraising his firm might be doing . last month , however , calpers , the giant california public employee retirement fund , reported it had committed $ 200 million to a new
khosla ventures expansion fund .
in a document released in conjunction with calpers ' february investment committee meeting , the pension fund said that the new khosla fund was
targeting a size of $ 1 billion
and that calpers would be the fund ' s anchor investor . it is unclear when the new khosla fund might close or how successful khosla ventures has been in drumming up cash from other investors . many big pension funds , endowments and charities are facing liquidity problems and have little extra cash for new venture capital commitments .
calpers said the new fund marks the first time khosla ventures has sought third - party capital . indeed , until now , khosla ' s firm has made investments mainly with khosla ' s own family money . after sun , he made a fortune working as a vc at kleiner perkins caufield & byers during the 1990s telecoms boom . currently , khosla makes many investments alongside kleiner - - a model , presumably , khosla ventures hopes to continue with sequoia .
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sequoia capital is silicon valley’s most respected venture capital firm , having made money from backing yahoo , google , youtube and many others .
again , no big deal , unless of course investors in sequoia’s fund begin to argue that their stakes in companies like youtube are being artificially reduced because sequoia is letting in artis simply for family reasons . we should caution that we know very few facts about the relationships . we contacted both sequoia and artis for comment . however , another common thread is that both firms are obsessively secretive . sequoia did not respond . coo john milani of artis , when contacted , told venturebeat : “we don’t comment on employees or our investments . ”
sequoia took public money from the university of california for decades . while working for the mercury news , we engaged in talks with sequoia and other firms in an effort to obtain their financial performance , which we thought the public investors a right to access , especially given the downturn in the economy and in venture capital . uc , calpers and many other public - backed institutions had invested in vc firms , and almost nothing was known about the money - losing investments the vcs had made . notably , sequoia initially agreed to release its basic data , the so - called internal rate of return , in exchange for an agreement that we not request other , more detailed information about the fund . two days later , sequoia reneged on that agreement , and decided to boot the university of california as an investor for its initial decision to reveal sequoia’s financial performance to the public .
pe week’s haislip points out that there is no evidence ( yet ) that sequoia’s partners invested in artis — which would be of concern for sequoia’s remaining investors . to repeat , we don’t know the full facts on this , but it is a significant reminder that family and relationship ties do matter at a time when many tend to think — quite naively — that meritocracy alone rules in a place like silicon valley .
chad hurley , steve chen and hundreds of the videos that helped turn youtube into a sensation .
let ' s say you ' re in your 20s and you start your first internet company . let ' s say 21 months later you sell it for $ 1 . 65 billion . what happens next ?
at first , not much . some of the money is tied up in escrow , and the traditions of modesty in silicon valley require a period of restraint before you spend in the big , life - changing way that your wealth will permit .
still , the world wants to talk to you . japanese television , argentine newspapers , a bunch of french journalists and what seems like every news outlet in the u . s . friends you haven ' t heard from in a long time send e - mails . hey , how ' s it going ? long time no see ! btw i have this great business idea . . .
and so even though you ' ve just left a photo shoot with an imperious , name - dropping l . a . photographer and ride to the airport in a jet - black escalade , when you arrive at lax , you have to stand in the united economy line because you ' re still flying coach . having removed your shoes to get through security - - an indignity you ' ll never again endure if one day you spend an inconsequential few million on a jet - - you walk past a newsstand to see your company on the cover of wired and gq .
oh , and have you seen fortune ? . . . yeah , we ' re in there too .
and there they are : steve chen , 28 , and chad hurley , 29 , two of the three founders of youtube ( the other , jawed karim , went to grad school last year ) , a couple of boy - men looking out from a magazine and up at themselves in real life . then they board the plane , steve way in the back and chad closer to the front after paying an extra $ 24 for an
economy plus
seat .
such is life these days for chad and steve - - and because they are still young enough to get the occasional pimple , i don ' t mind calling them chad and steve . they are premoguls , near magnates . they foreshadow but don ' t quite yet embody the wealth and power that accompany their role as the new demiurges of the online world . at a gq party in west hollywood , calif . , a few weeks ago , al gore tapped steve on the shoulder outside the bathroom to congratulate him on the success of youtube . chad chatted with leonardo dicaprio , handsome and taller than you think and ashing his cigarette on the floor . but at the end of the night , the youtube boys were hanging with the b crowd , steve eating a burger ( despite a disapproving glare from his girlfriend julie ) and chad drinking until 2 : 30 a . m . with a guy who was in the jackass movies - - not even the main guy . guys , you gotta know when to leave the party . ( when leo does . )
but of course the party is just starting for chad and steve , whose omnium - gatherum of online videos has captivated the web for the past year , at least since a saturday night live digital short called lazy sunday was forwarded millions of times last december , increasing visits to urltoken 83 % . ( if you don ' t know lazy sunday , don ' t tell anyone , particularly anyone under 30 . just quietly youtube it now . )
ouch . that’s a bit of a slap at sequoia , which has enjoyed a reputation until now as one of silicon valley’s most prominent and successful firms . only two other firms rival that reputation , benchmark and kleiner perkins . khosla’s firm is relatively new , founded a few years ago after khosla left kleiner perkins .
however , like other large venture firms , sequoia appears to have drifted slightly from its pure focus on investing in early stage startups . it has raised large amounts of funds for companies that are much more mature .
to many people the lush , leafy enclaves of menlo park ' s sand hill road probably look like just another upscale office park . but to those hopeful entrepreneurs and budding ceos who come here looking for funding and guidance , sand hill road is the pearly gates of silicon valley : if you get in here , you ' re in heaven . if you don ' t , you ' re in the other place .
but the deity here is not god but mammon . that ' s because sand hill road is the home of several of the most powerful and influential venture capital firms in the country . driving in , past the parked mercedes and bmws ; the bustle of federal express trucks ; and , unusual for california , the sight of men and women in sober business attire ; one comes to building 4 , the offices of sequoia capital .
though not as well known to the general public as its neighbor , kleiner perkins caufield & byers , sequoia capital ' s roster of the companies that it has taken public reads like a who ' s who of the information age : cisco systems csco , yahoo ! yhoo , oracle orcl , 3com coms , vitesse semiconductor vtss and apple computer aapl . since its 1972 inception sequoia has raised more than $ 1 . 3 billion to invest in more than 350 companies , of which 100 have been taken public and many more sold .
as partner mike moritz says :
the companies we ' ve provided the original financing for are now worth more than one - third of a trillion dollars .
unlike venture capitalists of the past , which were funded primarily by family wealth , firms like sequoia raise their money mainly from institutional investors , such as large foundations , endowments and universities , as well as very well - heeled private investors . these funds are entrusted to the firm , which then - - using its superior expertise , active involvement and sweat equity - - invests them in promising startups .
the companies we ' ve provided the original financing for are now worth more than one - third of a trillion dollars .
sequoia ' s typical strategy is to invest in companies at the early stages where it can get up to 25 % of the company and play a key role in directing the company ' s strategy and the hiring of the company ' s management team . when the partners consider it appropriate they will take board positions or even act as senior executives at a company . for example , sequoia ' s founder , don valentine , was ceo of cisco until he tapped current ceo john chambers to replace him . what sequoia doesn ' t want is a large equity position , because it believes the best incentive for a company ' s management is to retain the majority stake themselves .
our business is to identify entities too small to be called companies ,
says moritz , who has been at sequoia since 1986 . it was moritz who first came across two young graduate students named jerry yang and david filo when they were working out of a trailer on the stanford campus in 1995 . he is now a member of yahoo ! ' s board . most of sequoia ' s partners immediately grasped the need for a search engine to navigate the new medium of the internet .
a lot of people thought it was lunacy to invest in a company with no technology , no barriers to entry , no management and no discernible source of revenue ,
says moritz .
but there was no doubt in our minds that the internet was a new medium and that a company like yahoo ! that was developing a search engine to navigate it would be needed . but nobody in their right minds imagined that this would be a company with a $ 40 billion market cap .
while not every investment becomes what sequoia calls a
ten bagger ,
investments that multiply more than tenfold after their ipos , sequoia ' s reputation for picking winners has allowed it to raise more than $ 750 million in investment funds from institutional investors , many of whom are in their third decade of investing with the firm . it has also allowed the company to create a network of contacts that touch upon every part of silicon valley , from commercial banks to accounting firms to executive search groups .
equally important , sequoia gives its clients unparalleled access to many of its post - ipo companies . for example , cisco bought netsys in 1996 for $ 79 million and ardent in 1997 for $ 156 million . in 1996 , oracle acquired datalogix for $ 94 million . some companies have acted as investors in early financing rounds , as well : cisco invested $ 2 . 5 million in international networking services inss , which then went public in 1996 for $ 490 million .
they know everyone ,
says john drew , ceo of ins .
their network of contacts between different companies is incredible , and they are very active in selecting management teams , customers , partners , investors , everything . the combination of their contacts , their dedication and their success rate is what convinced me to come on board .
having them involved with you instantly legitimizes your company ,
says larry augustin , ceo of va research , a mountain view , calif . - based startup that sells linux systems . he pursued the sequoia people for three years before they agreed to work with him .
they understood the technology but they just couldn ' t pull the trigger ,
augustin says .
so i started sending them information every week showing how profitable we were , how important linux was , until they committed . it was worth it because they ' re the ones i wanted . money isn ' t the thing they bring to the table . other firms offered more money , but nobody promised the degree of involvement they could .
by its own estimate , sequoia gets an average of 20 business plans every day . while no investments are made without total consensus from all seven partners , few companies were able to secure an investment as easily as urltoken , a startup already prominent in the online music business . michael robertson , urltoken ' s ceo , says that sequoia contacted him .
they were looking for a market leader ,
he says .
in exchange for a minority stake , they gave us $ 10 million , which is the largest investment they ' ve ever made .
second , the firm likes companies that make products people need , as opposed to superfluous items they only want .
third , it looks at how that company ' s product differentiates itself from similar products . does it have proprietary technology ?
they have a reputation as ceo killers ,
says bryan stolle , ceo of agile software , a san jose - based startup that helps companies integrate their supply chains and is currently working with sequoia .
that ' s not fair but they are demanding . these guys are raving capitalists . they ' re very very focused on making money and very very focused on finding companies and management teams that make money . from where i sit , that ' s exactly the kind of team i want behind me .
well , he has reemerged in an advisory role at formation 8 , where he is being reunited with kim and gideon yu , both of whom he had worked with previously .
“we haven’t had the same breadth of experiences he has . he’s literally seen every situation , ” kim said .
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lior founded eclipse to meet the unique and unmet needs of entrepreneurs building startups integrating hardware with software and data .
prior to launching eclipse , lior was founder and general partner at labix , the hardware investment platform of flextronics , the world’s second largest electronics manufacturing services and original design manufacturer . labix brings together startups , oems and technology partners across the entire hardware ecosystem . at labix , lior led investments in companies across : energy storage , wireless / infrastructure , 3d optics , additive manufacturing , and robotics .
lior also co - founded farm 2050 , an agtech collective , with innovation endeavors to address the global food challenge . prior to labix , he was part of the founding team of elementum , flextronics’ proprietary saas platform which was later spun out . before moving to silicon valley , lior was a serial entrepreneur in tel aviv , where he helped build intucell which was sold to cisco in 2012 .
lior is a ( res ) of an elite special forces unit in the israel defense force .
greg oversees all aspects of finance , investment reporting and monitoring , operational , compliance , accounting and human resource functions at eclipse and is also involved in fundraising aspects of the firm .
prior to joining eclipse , greg worked at sequoia capital where he managed financial reporting and operations for funds across the u . s . , china , india and israel . during his time at sequoia , greg was also responsible for developing and reviewing gaap valuation models for portfolio companies across all geographies .
previously , greg was part of the pricewaterhousecoopers ( pwc ) audit practice in san francisco where he focused on financial services clients . in his role with pwc , greg supervised and trained audit team members and worked with multiple investment management and banking and capital markets clients . greg graduated cum laude with a b . s . in business administration with a concentration in accounting from sonoma state university . greg earned his cpa and is a member of the aicpa .
after graduating from arizona state university in 2014 , lily worked as a lead recruiter for the it staffing company , insight global . lily was quickly promoted to become an account manager , managing accounts with leading technology companies such as yahoo , netapp and lockheed martin .
in this role lily clearly demonstrated her exceptional abilities to seamlessly coordinate and schedule a high volume of meetings between clients and potential candidates resulting in customer success and increased new business . lily brings her talent and enthusiasm to eclipse where she managers all office operations .
angela manages investor and portfolio relations for eclipse , including fundraising , lp relations , company communications , and outreach . she joined the team from formation 8 .
prior to joining formation 8 , angela was the director of the stanford entrepreneurship network . while there she mentored stanford entrepreneurs , developed a robust network of investors and strategic advisors and led the communications / outreach strategy . additionally , she was a board member of bases , the business association of stanford entrepreneurial students .
greg has spent his career building and leading teams to help scale technically complex products from initial concept to high - volume production . most recently , greg was tesla’s executive leader of global manufacturing , factory / automation engineering , supply chain , and product excellence . while at tesla , he led growth from low volume roadster production to the fully integrated manufacturing of the model s and x , and a revenue run rate of over $ 8b .
prior to tesla , greg was the senior vice president of operations at sunpower , and led the growth of manufacturing operations from pilot scale to over $ 2b in annual revenue . in this role , he was responsible for the rapid implementation and growth of advanced silicon , cell , and panel manufacturing operations globally . earlier in his career , greg held various roles in manufacturing and quality in the semiconductor industry .
greg has a bs in mechanical engineering from the university of minnesota . outside of work , greg enjoys developing software , diving , and mountain biking .
prior to joining the investment team at eclipse , justin built and led the commercial operations at misfit , a wearable technology company acquired by the fossil group for more than $ 250m . before misfit , justin managed the commercialization efforts in the foods , fuels , and chemicals spaces at synthetic genomics , a leading synthetic biology company .
at sgi , justin’s efforts led to first - in - class technology development , licensing , and commercialization deals with companies such as adm , and other fortune 100 food and chemicals companies .
justin received his bs in chemical engineering from ucsb , and his mba from mit sloan . justin is an avid cyclist and triathlete , and is on the advisory board of cyclekids , a nonprofit focused on strengthening the physical and emotional health of children .
seth is a partner at eclipse where he invests in strong leaders building full - stack hardware technology companies that improve the physical world . he focuses his time on building businesses that use automation technologies to improve the movement of people and goods ; next generation manufacturing technologies , and consumer hardware that pushes the state of the art in machine learning .
his investments include : 6 river systems , clearpath robotics , and marble . additionally , he is a board observer for eclipse portfolio companies : light , kindred , and swift navigation .
prior to helping launch eclipse , seth was an original member of the ge ventures advanced manufacturing investment practice where he invested in robotics , additive manufacturing , and industrial iot technologies . seth is a graduate of claremont mckenna college . he spends his free time running / cycling , snowboarding , surfing , and enjoying the beautiful norcal outdoors .
lior also co - founded farm 2050 , an agtech collective , with innovation endeavors to address the global food challenge . prior to labix , he was part of the founding team of elementum , flextronics’ proprietary saas platform which was later spun out . before moving to silicon valley , lior was a serial entrepreneur in tel aviv , where he helped build intucell which was sold to cisco in 2012 .
, provides solutions for reconfigurable rtl in chip and system designs using embedded fpga ip cores and software . the company ' s technology platform delivers significant customer benefits by dramatically reducing design and manufacturing risks , accelerating technology roadmaps , and bringing greater flexibility to customers ' hardware . flex logix is backed by
based eclipse ventures supports iconic entrepreneurs building vertically - integrated , full - stack companies , incorporating hardware , software , and data . the team is comprised of passionate and experienced individuals with both investment and operational backgrounds . eclipse has made 27 investments to date .


chemonics international is a private international development company that works for bilateral and multilateral donors and the private sector to manage projects in developing countries .

the organization bids primarily on contracts from the u.s. agency for international development ( usaid ) and manages projects that cover a variety of technical sectors .

in addition to its headquarters in washington , d.c. , the company also has project offices in different countries .

chemonics

glassdoor has 239 chemonics international reviews submitted anonymously by chemonics international employees . read employee reviews and ratings on glassdoor to decide if chemonics international is right for you .
mr . teele , a former foreign service officer , and business associate frank feffer founded chemonics international in 1975 as a technical consulting division to chemonics industries . feffer headed chemonics industries .
in addition to paying the settlement , chemonics will hire eight of the applicants who previously did not get jobs .
chemonics deferred requests for interviews in kabul and washington , d . c . , to usaid . usaid told us it had given permission to chemonics to do the interview , but the company did not respond to our requests .
we believe those who have the least deserve our best . at chemonics , development is more than a passion or calling .
chemonics even directed some of those workers to remove rubble from private lots adjacent to its port - au - prince headquarters instead .
editor ' s note : this story was revised to include a usaid statement provided to globalpost about the oig audit of chemonics .
jane gotiangco , director of communications at chemonics , attributes the pattern of discrimination to a manual application system that , she says , did not allow the firm to track diversity data . chemonics has since upgraded the system and renewed its commitment to diversity , gotiangco says .
chemonics international inc . is building a talent pool to develop a roster of go - to experts or pre - qualify candidates for future roles .
the oig found “not all activities implemented have involved community participation in a way that guarantees sustainability . ” in one especially egregious example , chemonics :
the department of labor also found that chemonics violated rules about maintaining required records and conducting internal audits , which the company has now agreed to fix .
in an interview aired during the episode , i explain that chemonics was the largest recipient of post - quake u . s . disaster relief and in fact , is one of the largest aid contractors in the world . a topic that we have covered on this blog for years . in a response to the episode , chemonics claims the “segment does not provide a complete or accurate picture of chemonics’ work in haiti over the past five years . ”
the post — “chemonics responds to devex article” — quotes chemonics ceo susi mudge , who said , “immediately upon recognizing the project was facing challenges , we owned our responsibility . addressing these challenges is one of our top priorities . we believe we have made the necessary changes to ensure progress is made . ”
the company agreed last month to pay back wages , interest and benefits to the applicants , but the terms of the settlement allow chemonics to deny liability .
it is certainly welcome that after years of stonewalling inquiries and freedom of information act requests that chemonics is now eager to discuss their funding of local organizations .
the washington post reported that former employees of chemonics , which has received over $ 430 million in usaid contracts since 2003 , said their superiors kept their mouths shut about failing programs in order to keep contracts flowing . a spokeswoman for chemonics said the company is now employee owned and stands by its work in afghanistan .
critics of usaid spending say the mistakes chemonics made in haiti and afghanistan are emblematic of those that occur frequently across the development aid world as aid contracts increasingly shift away from ngos to for - profit companies . foreign policy reported in july that in 2011 , 27 percent of usaid funds worldwide went to american companies like chemonics .
usaid gave seven of the 10 largest contracts for operations in haiti to chemonics international , a for - profit provider that johnson said is the largest usaid contractor in the world . chemonics’s two largest projects in haiti include the winner project and the office of transitions initiative , which johnson described as “the more political arm of usaid . ”
nonetheless , the public is unable to ascertain how chemonics spent the vast majority of its multi - million - dollar contracts in haiti due to usaid’s lack of oversight reports .
indeed , it was chemonics’ contract with usaid that is shown in the episode , with all cost information redacted and the entire statement of work—25 pages—redacted with bright pink pages .
last week ' s audit is likely to fuel scrutiny of usaid deals with companies like chemonics , both in the united states and in the countries where those deals take place .
williams had his critics . chemonics officials praised his firm ' s agricultural work , but called his construction work shoddy . one chemonics official told me a thai engineer williams hired to implement a $ 700 , 000 usaid project to construct 19 small irrigation dams was incompetent , did not understand english and submitted an initial design that was
a crappy little drawing .
a department of labor review of the hiring practices of chemonics in 2011 found that its regional business unit , which supports the company’s development work in africa , asia , europe and eurasia , latin american , the caribbean , and the middle east , discriminated based on race when hiring for entry - level positions . of the 124 african americans who applied for jobs at chemonics , none were hired .
chemonics failed to set timelines or estimated dates of completion for some work being done by subcontractors , causing some projects to run behind schedule . in september 2011 , usaid awarded chemonics a $ 1 . 9 million contract to build a temporary space for haiti ' s parliament , which lost its building in the earthquake . but no timelines were set for steps in the process – such as installing “utilities . ”
as devex reported last week , chemonics’ most recent quarterly report to usaid revealed that only 7 percent of the global health supply chain – procurement and supply management project’s shipments arrived “on time and in full . ”
there is clearly more to the story of haiti’s reconstruction than what was covered in the roughly 15 - minute vice on hbo episode , but chemonics’ response is not just incomplete ; it’s inaccurate and misleading too .
founded in 1975 , chemonics is an international development consulting firm . in 70 countries around the globe , our network of approximately 4 , 000 local professionals share a simple belief : those who have the least deserve our best . so we pursue a higher standard every day to help clients , partners and beneficiaries achieve results . where chemonics works , development works . follow us on facebook and twitter or visit us at urltoken .
chemonics was awarded “urban beautification” contracts to build benches and spruce up public spaces near the new $ 224 million carocol industrial park outside haiti ' s northern city of cap haitien . but instead of hiring haitians from the local communities , chemonics brought in workers all the way from port - au - prince in the south of the country . “as a result , residents saw jobs in their neighborhood being done by outsiders , and without an understanding of the activities , they did not see how anyone local benefited , ” the audit stated . it concluded two of these beautification projects failed altogether because chemonics did not involve local residents in the process .
while usaid did not respond to globalpost ' s questions about chemonics ' contracts in haiti , the agency did provide a written statement , declaring ,
we take very seriously the effectiveness of our programs worldwide .
while this may be true , it does not address the main issue which vice raises : that so much post - quake aid went to a community that wasn’t impacted by the quake . further , the priority for chemonics in implementing a usaid program was to provide support to the industrial park . chemonics also funded the public relations firm for the inauguration of the park , paid for billboards that dot the area declaring it “open for business , ” as well as other efforts aimed at promoting the park . this very well may be what chemonics was asked to do by usaid , but it doesn’t mean it was a good use of aid dollars .
chemonics has come in for criticism on other issues too . an audit of a $ 62m project it carried out in 2006 in afghanistan found that the company “fell considerably short of intended results” and was followed up by the us press . chemonics said that the reports “provided an incomplete picture” . in 2010 , in the wake of the 2010 haiti earthquake , chemonics was awarded more than $ 196m to help rebuild the country , making it the largest recipient of post - earthquake funds from usaid . but just a few months later , auditors discovered [ pdf ] that the company had hired only one - third the number of haitians it was supposed to .
“the [ usaid ] inspector general found that chemonics regularly runs short of its goals and over its budget , ” cepr’s johnson said . “this is typical , but it’s become particularly evident in haiti because of the earthquake . ”
a chemonics consultant who was supposed to help haiti ' s national mapping agency replace geographical data lost during the earthquake hadn ' t finished the job when her contract ended in february . “the activity did not meet its objectives because chemonics did not communicate effectively with [ haiti ' s mapping agency ] or provide adequate support to the consultant , ” according to the audit . “the chemonics officials said they never asked agency staff members whether the consultant was meeting their needs and learned only at the activity’s end that [ the agency ] was not satisfied with her . ” the head of the agency told auditors that the consultant ' s work was “insufficient and would have to be redone . ”
usaid then stepped in and appointed new managers and hired polish workers to replace american ones . in the end , despite the independent evaluators ' criticisms , usaid gave chemonics an
excellent
rating for the project . . . .
instead of usaid implementing projects itself , the agency doled out government aid money to private contractors like chemonics , who then hired a cascading series of subcontractors to actually carry out the work . chemonics was one of dozens of washington - based contracting firms known as
beltway bandits
established in response to the privatization of government services by the reagan , bush and clinton administrations . the owner of chemonics at the time , scott spangler , worked for usaid during the first bush administration . during the 1990s , he and his wife contributed $ 98 , 000 to political candidates , all republicans . by 2004 , 95 percent of the firm ' s $ 185 million in annual revenue came from usaid .
in response to further inquiry from devex , chemonics wrote in an email : “we work closely with the global fund , unfpa , and unicef to mitigate the effects of late orders on commodity security in the countries that we serve . ”
chemonics international , one of the largest private development groups partnering with the us agency for international development ( usaid ) , has agreed to pay $ 482 , 243 ( £389 , 000 ) to job applicants who faced discrimination in the company’s hiring process .
chemonics supports international economic development projects with usaid , including education , healthcare and agriculture programmes . it has been awarded some of largest aid contracts by the us government , from supporting the white helmets in syria to supplying medicine and health supplies around the globe .
persons with disabilities who need to request reasonable accommodations during the application process may send an email to : applicantrequest @ urltoken or call chemonics at ( 855 ) 955 - 6877 or ( 202 ) 955 - 6882 . no other phone calls will be accepted .
a favorite usaid contractor , chemonics international , started in 1976 by conservative republican gerald murphy , in part , because as he told the new york times in 1993 , ‘i’ve always wanted a way to do two things : one , have my own c . i . a . , and two , be helpful to people , ’ received $ 500 , 000 to support usaid field missions in nepal . oti and soros’ open society institute ( osi ) are also linked through a contract awarded to chemonics in nepal to provide for u . s . - funded propaganda to be broadcast on fm stations in nepal . the soros / usaid / chemonics media blitz in nepal is also funding radio kailash , targeting thr humla district of nepal and nepal chautari ( a national live radio call - in show ) .
this is not true . since the earthquake , chemonics alone has awarded nearly $ 100 million dollars directly to haitian organizations , in the form of grants and subcontracts , providing much - needed monetary resources , as well as institutional strengthening and capacity building services in tandem .
in 2015 , chemonics received a contract of $ 9 . 5bn over eight years from usaid – the largest contract ever from the government agency devex reports . only one other contractor receives more usaid awards , the partnership for supply chain management , which is a conglomerate of 13 companies .
after devex published an article revealing problems with a critical global health supply chain project funded by the u . s . agency for international development , chemonics international , the project implementer , responded in an online post that acknowledged “challenges” and described steps the company has taken to improve performance .
he then worked as a consultant on economic and agricultural development . among his projects was designing an agricultural project for a cooperative in puerto rico and helping create a fertilizer company in afghanistan . it was in afghanistan where mr . teele and feffer worked on the idea of starting chemonics international .
in truth , the agricultural development program williams implemented for chemonics and usaid was a shadow of a similar usaid cold war effort in helmand . in the 1970s , a dozen afghan extension agents worked in each district . in 2004 , usaid - via williams - employed only two per district .
it isn ' t the first time usaid has reacted to mistakes by chemonics by sending even more contracts its way . a 2005 audit found the company ' s $ 153 million program to improve agriculture in afghanistan had missed an important objective that resulted in the “limited” success of the project . nonetheless , one year later , usaid awarded chemonics a new $ 102 million contract for similar work in afghanistan . a later investigation found even that project was flawed , running so far behind schedule that afghan farmers on 10 , 000 hectares of land were unable to plant their crops one summer .
undeterred by the mishaps , just three months later the us awarded chemonics $ 53 million to implement 141 new haiti projects . now , an internal audit reveals some of these projects are lagging behind schedule and others have failed entirely because the company didn ' t engage local communities in the work .
but in the vice episode , mayor lamour explains that what happens is that companies like chemonics “just come and tell us they are investing in something . ” gandhi asks if the mayor would rather have had support for plumbing and running water , to which lamour responds , “it’s true that they built a lot of things in the area , but we didn’t really need them . ” of course , lamour and vice are not the only ones who have denounced the lack of community involvement . in fact , usaid’s own inspector general ( oig ) has specifically called out chemonics for just this problem .
thurston f . ' tony ' teele consultant firm co - founder thurston ferdinand ' tony ' teele , 70 , chairman and co - founder of chemonics international inc . , a leading international development consulting firm in washington , died of lymphoma march 21 at georgetown university hospital . he lived in the district .
chemonics undertook a “foundational change , ” by restructuring “how the project itself functioned from a management perspective , ” according to a statement on the company’s website , which was posted on friday . the usaid implementing partner also worked to prevent stock outs by working with other donors to “bridge gaps” in the supply chain process .
new york — two years ago , auditors revealed the washington , dc , consulting firm chemonics international and a partner company were employing only one - third as many haitians as their contract required to clear rubble left by the january 2010 earthquake from city streets as part of the us government - funded “cash for work” program .
chemonics failed to conduct an “environmental mitigation and monitoring plan” before beginning a project to plant hundreds of thousands of medicinal jatropha plants near the city of saint marc . “potentially adverse environmental impacts can occur if proper mitigation and monitoring procedures are not put into place before implementing an activity and monitoring it , ” the audit warned .
“there have been no delivery delays or stock - outs that resulted in or caused any patients to stop treatment . recognizing the challenges in the new process , usaid and chemonics took proactive steps to avoid such issues , including by working closely with other donors to bridge gaps and prevent stock - outs , ” the post read .
both the soccer field and community center were identified as local priorities at community meetings , and haitian leaders such as mayor lamour , who was interviewed for the piece , participated in kick - off meetings and signed grant agreements that included details on the projects , as well as roles and responsibilities for both chemonics and community leaders .
the statement added that usaid
worked closely with the oig auditors
to examine the issues raised about chemonics and that
since the audit was completed , usaid has funded a local firm to conduct third - party monitoring and evaluation .
usaid did not explain how the local firm would resolve the issues raised in the audit .
but chemonics , whose contract with usaid explicitly states that decisions about what programs to fund “will be based upon us foreign policy interests in consultation” with the state department , worked to further usaid’s objectives of “counter [ ing ] the destabilizing effects” and the “growing discontent” with the pace of reconstruction . it ran pr for the new industrial park , installing benches and flower planters in nearby areas to “project a positive image . ” an audit later noted that the flowers soon died “from lack of care , ” while the mayor decried the lack of community involvement . but business was good for chemonics , whose ceo at the time received a $ 2 . 5 million bonus .
when i submitted a foia request for more specific information about chemonics’s work in haiti , every document i received was heavily redacted . usaid explained that to “release the information…could willfully stir up false allegations…and cause strife within the target communities , ” adding , “the release of the information…would likely instigate demonstrations and create an unsafe environment” to work in .
chemonics evaluated some of its projects based upon criteria that had absolutely nothing to do with the goals of those projects . in one case , chemonics was charged with providing school supplies including chairs , desks and backpacks to two public schools , but it evaluated its work based on the number of children who returned to school . “the performance measure did not correlate to the activity , ” according to the audit . similarly , a project that was supposed to create a plan to improve roads in a haitian town was evaluated by the “number of reconstructed national governing institutions and systems that receive [ us government ] assistance to incorporate principles that support democracy and government legitimacy” — whatever that means .
while chemonics and dai are the largest single recipients , the bulk of the funds have gone to beltway contractors as well : firms in virginia received the most funds of any state , $ 45 . 3 million , followed closely by maryland , $ 44 . 6 million . another $ 31 . 7 million went to companies based in the district of columbia .
throughout the piece , the development industry in haiti is criticized for lack of consultation with haitians . for chemonics , this is incorrect on a number of levels . at every point during implementation , we prioritized using haitian expertise , haitian goods , and haitian companies … our team of passionate haitian staff engaged directly with a diverse array of community leaders prior to and during every activity .
one project that flew under the radar involved building irrigation canals for farmers in helmand province . a little advanced research might have exposed the fact that the farmers in the region are overwhelmingly opium poppy growers and that they were using the water to grow even more poppies . the success of one of chemonics ' contracts was openly undermining another : to wean farmers off the opium market . 129
again , taking a look at previous oig reports proves useful . a 2010 report found that usaid had not performed internal financial reviews of chemonics despite “expending millions of dollars rapidly . ” also in 2010 , i asked a usaid contracting official if he could provide information on amounts going to subcontracts , he responded : “you need hard data … and i need that hard data too . ”
at the time , i assumed grader was exaggerating . like generations before him , he saw youth as feckless and society in decline . four months later , though , chemonics fired grader after only 10 months on the job . company officials said they could not comment on personnel decisions . grader said he was forced out after he dared clash with usaid officials about the agency ' s programs .
and they ' re fighting to keep it that way . last year , chemonics joined 50 other american development contractors to form a lobbying group to fight the sort of reforms proposed in usaid ' s forward initiative . the companies argue that the status quo is preferable to giving contracts directly to smaller companies within host countries because they are harder to hold accountable and often have no experience handling large - dollar contracts .
below are our current international opportunities . we continually seek outstanding individuals willing to serve as long - or short - term technical specialists . technical specialists cover the range of practice areas on which chemonics’ and donor organizations focus their efforts . in addition , we look for individuals who have a passion for making a difference in the lives of people around the world and demonstrate leadership , versatility , and integrity in their work .
in may , a globalpost investigation revealed that not a single dollar of the original $ 1 . 1 billion in humanitarian assistance the agency allocated in haiti in fiscal year 2010 went directly to haitian organizations or businesses . an analysis by the cepr found that 70 percent of the $ 450 million awarded through reconstruction contracts has gone to beltway companies like chemonics , and only 1 . 3 percent has gone directly to haitian companies .
the united states agency for international development ( usaid ) , which is in charge of allocating us aid in haiti and around the world , responded to an audit last week of its haiti contracts with chemonics , the largest recipient of us aid contracts in the island nation and around the world . the audit , which concluded in february , examined 22 of the 141 projects , totaling $ 6 . 8 million . among its findings :
in the episode , vice on hbo correspondent vikram gandhi travels to caracol , in the north of haiti , home to the international community’s flagship reconstruction project , the caracol industrial park . gandhi visits a police station , which cost over $ 2 million as well as soccer field and cultural center . as gandhi states , “when we looked at the costs of many other projects , we noticed the same contractor kept coming up . ” chemonics .
several months after visiting little america with grader , i returned to helmand to learn more about the contractors leading the u . s . effort . my guide was a 40 - year - old ex - u . s . army paratrooper who asked to be identified by a pseudonym - bob williams - for safety reasons . williams ' s small contracting firm was the subcontractor grader hired to actually carry out chemonics ' s agricultural development work in helmand .
the oig also found that “urban beautification” projects failed for similar reasons . the oig writes , “the purpose of these projects was to improve public areas by installing plants and benches , as well as doing minor masonry work , and to project ‘a positive image of what role the nearby caracol industrial park and other upcoming economic investments will play in citizens’ lives . ’” although chemonics did do some plantings , “they died from lack of care . ” meanwhile :
chemonics is an equal opportunity / affirmative action employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices . all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race , color , religion , sex , national origin , political affiliation , sexual orientation , gender identity , marital status , disability , protected veteran status , genetic information , age , or other legally protected characteristics . military veterans , americorps , peace corps , and other national service alumni are encouraged to apply .
in march , globalpost witnessed haitian subcontractors installing electrical wires in that building — four months after usaid officially “inaugurated” the structure , announcing it complete . a globalpost investigation found the building remained unused by haiti ' s parliament months after the inauguration because usaid only asked chemonics to construct the frame of the building — leaving the offices void of furniture and the chambers hall empty and unusable . haiti’s government later drew at least $ 775 , 000 from the public treasury to finish the job .
while many of these programs deserve criticism for achieving very little , even worse , some also manage to be outright harmful . the most problematic program was the u . s . government - funded “agroinvest” project , which was implemented by a private subcontractor chemonics . the agroinvest project was launched by usaid from 2011 to 2016 with a budget of $ 19 million . from this amount at least $ 2 . 5 million was supposed to be used for reforming land and the development of laws :
to defeat the current stasis requires challenging business as usual . imagine a political system in which doing business with such outlaw outfits was either banned outright or reduced to a tiny trickle . corporations such as chemonics and dyncorp , with dubious records both in the west and in developing nations , should not receive further governmental contracts unless they implement drastic internal changes to ensure accountability . that would be a massive first step in reducing the ability of disaster capitalists to get what they want from the political system .
mr . teele ran the day - to - day operations at chemonics international from 1975 to 2002 , when he became chairman of the board . the firm grew during his tenure . it employs more than 2 , 000 people and has managed projects in more than 90 countries in africa , the middle east , latin america , southeast asia and eastern europe . in some projects , the business has advised governments on agricultural policy reform , investment promotion , enterprise development , and product distribution and marketing studies .
sharif also feels that chemonics ' urgency for ramp to develop international markets - which largely failed - has caused them to neglect domestic needs for food security . ramp , for example , has instructed farmers in parwan to grow more vegetables , and promised to find buyers for them both within the country and beyond . the farmers , who normally planted beans and lentils , grew green vegetables as encouraged . but instead of profiting , they lost money . vegetables flooded the market and drove the price down . 126
the contractors , development alternatives inc . of bethesda , maryland , and chemonics international of washington d . c . , which received more than $ 31 million each in no - bid contracts , responded to ap in an email saying that together with several other contractors , they had employed 25 , 000 haitians a day . now , they said , 10 months after the earthquake ,
priorities have evolved beyond a focus on temporary employment ,
a program that has paid haitian workers $ 18 million in wages .
lanky , with a thick shock of gray hair and a faded all - american look , grader was a marker of how the american approach to development had changed since the cold war . no longer a government worker , he was a private contractor paid $ 130 , 000 a year by chemonics international , a for - profit consulting firm based in washington . from kabul , he managed a $ 130 million usaid contract to revitalize agriculture and slow the exploding cultivation of opium poppy , the raw form of heroin , across southern afghanistan .
if you try to dig deeper into how usaid money is actually spent , you’ll find a black box . while it is relatively easy to look up online how much money chemonics has received for work in haiti since the quake ( over $ 200 million ) , it is impossible to identify the thousands of subcontractors that actually implement the various programs usaid supports . interested in how much money contractors are able to take off the top for their headquarters back home ? too bad—that information is a tightly protected trade secret that usaid and its contractors refuse to disclose .
chemonics is a bit bureaucratic . there is a fair amount of favoritism and racism in the company . if you are a minority then moving up the ladder can be 3x as hard as a white male . you will make it to the manager position and max to a director position . beyond that it ' s all white males . they will have a white female at the upper level every now and then to spice - up things a bit but that ' s about it . they were even written up by the department of labor in 2016 ( google it ) for discriminating against black applications at the executive level . for a company that has 3500 employees that is something .
one of the us government’s largest private aid - delivery partners last month agreed to pay damages to more than a hundred african american job applicants for racial discrimination .
“winning federal contracts , paid for with us taxpayer dollars , is a privilege , not a right , ” patricia a shiu , director of the office of federal contract compliance programs ( ofccp ) , said in a statement . “with that privilege comes the obligation to practice equal employment opportunity towards all demographic groups of workers in this country . ”
joanna hawkins , a representative for the department of labor , says that each company working with government agencies is evaluated on a neutral case - by - base basis .
“on the other hand , ” she tells the guardian , “the agency does believe this settlement will send a message to other contractors , including those working in the international development arena , that employment discrimination is unacceptable and will not be tolerated . ”
this article was amended on 23 november 2016 to clarify that the hiring discrimination was identified at chemonic international’s regional business units , not the entire company .
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outsourcing quake assistance : haitian contractors get only 1 . 6 % of u . s . aid | urltoken
outsourcing quake assistance : haitian contractors get only 1 . 6 % of u . s . aid
haitian patrick brun , left , owner of a company that distributes construction supplies , walks with an employee at his facilities in port - au - prince , haiti , saturday dec . 11 , 2010 . out of every $ 100 of u . s . contracts now paid out to rebuild haiti , haitian firms have successfully won $ 1 . 60 , the associated press found in a review of contracts since the earthquake on jan . 12 . and the largest initial u . s . contractors hired fewer haitians than planned . there are many reasons for the disparity . among them , us aid is more familiar with some u . s . contractors and gave out some no - bid contracts out of urgency , and fears the corruption that is rife in haiti . on the haitian side , there is a limited understanding of u . s . government practices .
port - au - prince , haiti - - in a port - au - prince warehouse loaded with tarps , plywood , corrugated roofing , nails and other building supplies , company owner patrick brun says he had hoped to get contracts from the billions of dollars in international aid promised to haiti .
his 40 - year - old company , chabuma s . a . , sells cement blocks , doors , sand bags and other materials for international companies . but what he wants is a more significant role in his country ' s recovery , which is why he says he keeps bidding — without success — for u . s . government contracts .
you can imagine that if we can ' t win the contracts ourselves , we become totally dependent on foreign companies and nonprofits , and there is not much hope in that ,
he said .
we may not have the extended capacity of a u . s . company , but we are respectable . we keep good books and records , we have foreign suppliers , we have good credit , we pay our taxes and our customs dues .
out of every $ 100 of u . s . contracts now paid out to rebuild haiti , haitian firms have successfully won $ 1 . 60 , the associated press has found in a review of contracts since the earthquake on jan . 12 . and the largest initial u . s . contractors hired fewer haitians than planned .
there are many reasons for the disparity . among them , us aid is more familiar with some u . s . contractors and gave out some no - bid contracts out of urgency , and fears the corruption that is rife in haiti . on the haitian side , there is a limited understanding of u . s . government practices .
but using foreign aid to give local companies contracts is one of the most important aspects of reconstruction , says clare lockhart , chief executive officer of the institute for state effectiveness .
you can ' t just provide manual jobs . you need to contract with companies so that the middle tier managers and owners of companies have a stake in the legal system and rule of law , and ultimately a stake in the success of their political system and their economy ,
she says .
of the 1 , 583 u . s . contracts given so far in haiti totaling $ 267 million , only 20 — worth $ 4 . 3 million — are going to haitian - owned companies . and an audit this fall by us aid ' s inspector general found that more than 70 percent of the funds given to the two largest u . s . contractors for a cash for work project in haiti was spent on equipment and materials . as a result , just 8 , 000 haitians a day were being hired by june , instead of the planned 25 , 000 a day , according to the ig .
us aid says it is committed to increasing the amount of contracts going to haitians .
we already are engaging with haitian communities to make them aware of how they can partner with us ,
said janice laurente , a spokeperson for us aid .
economists say giving contracts to local businesses creates jobs , which help build the private sector . also , most donors would rather see local businesses thrive than foreign companies profiting from a disaster .
harvard business school economist eric werker , who researches foreign aid , says the spillover effects go beyond the aid itself .
some are obvious , like salaries and profits that stay in the local economy , but there are also ways to increase capacity of local firms by giving them progressively larger contracts ,
says werker .
the first is a no - bid process : 25 percent of the contracts went directly to u . s . contractors without even giving haitians a chance to bid on them , sometimes because the needs were so urgent there wasn ' t time to go through a formal bidding process . in addition , some government requests for local haitian subcontractors and expertise are published only in english , limiting access for many haitians who speak creole .
also , at times of catastrophe , it can be easier to use an established contractor with a strong record than a previously unknown local one . the haitian economy was so decimated by the earthquake that it was hard at first even to get wood or tarps for shelters without importing them . now , even though there are haitian companies providing many products and services , the pattern of using foreign ones continues .
and finally , it ' s more complicated to contract directly in countries like haiti , where corruption is rife . there has been price - gouging among some would - be haitian contractors .
the unprecedented promise of $ 9 billion in aid , with the u . s . as a top giver , at first raised hope of rebuilding and even of a new and brighter future for the tragedy - prone island . but fewer than 10 percent of those funds have made it past the
promise
stage .
the u . s . foreign aid contracts to haiti since the earthquake have gone to an array of almost entirely u . s . - based goods and services , from bullet - proof vehicles ordered nov . 18 by the centers for disease control from a miami - based firm to $ 24 , 000 in dental supplies for u . s . navy medical providers in june from a chesapeake , virginia , firm . yet bullet - proof vehicles and dental supplies are available from haitian companies , according to the nonprofit peace dividend trust .
frankly , it ' s a shame and a serious opportunity lost ,
says edward rees of the peace dividend trust . his organization put together a business portal , offering everything from security services to catering , and is training haitians on how to bid for contracts and grants .
no one is systematically tracking how many contracts have gone to haitian companies .
the lack of local spending in haiti is similar to that in most other countries receiving u . s . aid , although economist werker said haiti is likely at the low end of the spectrum . but rees contrasts haiti with afghanistan , where — backed by peace dividend trust — u . s . army general david h . petraeus ordered his commanders to
hire afghans first , buy afghan products , and build afghan capacity .
the results in afghanistan are encouraging : a recent study found that 37 percent of $ 2 billion in annual international aid is now being used to buy locally - produced afghan goods and services , up from 31 percent a few years ago .
the ap review focused on contracts from the u . s . government , which spent an immediate $ 1 . 1 billion in u . s . humanitarian assistance after the earthquake , and promised another $ 1 . 15 billion for reconstruction . in november , the first $ 120 million of the pledged reconstruction funds were tranferred to the world bank - run haiti reconstruction fund , according to the state department .
in addition to government aid , more than $ 1 billion has come from nonprofit charities , most of which try to buy local , said samuel a . worthington , president of interaction , the largest alliance of u . s . - based international nongovernmental organizations . he represents nonprofits managing about 90 percent of the u . s . donations that were directed to haiti after the quake .
worthington says there is no system to count how much has gone to haitian - owned companies .
there is a very strong bias to ensure as much local procurement as possible , and as much spending in the local economy ,
says worthington .
our bottom line is to serve as many people as possible and get the best price , to spread those dollars .
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the division concentrated on managing agriculture projects for the u . s . agency for international development in the beginning years but later branched into economic and business consulting services .
he also lectured widely on agro - industrial development and was an associate professor of economic development at georgetown university .
mr . teele was born in new rochelle , n . y . , and raised in needham , mass . , where his father , stanley f . teele , was dean of the harvard university business school .
tony teele graduated from amherst college and received a master ' s degree in economics from the fletcher school of law and diplomacy at tufts university . he did graduate work in economics at georgetown university .
he began his career as a foreign service officer in 1956 . he was a political officer at the u . s . embassy in athens and an economics analyst with u . s . aid executive secretariat before leaving the state department in 1964 .
mr . teele was vice president and a board member of the u . s . global leadership campaign ; board member of the society for international development ; and co - chair of the international development task force of the professional services council .
survivors include his wife of 23 years , barbara c . teele of washington ; two children from his first marriage , ted teele of pittsburgh and stacia teele of new york ; two children from his second marriage , kristy teele of ledberry , england , and allan teele of san francisco ; a stepson , mark carmichael of scottsdale , ariz . ; a brother ; a sister ; and nine grandchildren .
william sorg air force officer william sorg , 84 , a retired air force lieutenant colonel who was also a government agency systems analyst , died of cardiopulmonary arrest march 26 at walter reed army medical center .
col . sorg , a native of pittsburgh , began his military career with the royal canadian air force when he was about 17 . he transferred to the u . s . army air forces during world war ii and piloted a republic p - 47 thunderbolt fighter jet in missions over europe .
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a member of the ghsc - psm staff builds pharmacist ' s capacity by conducting inventory in a local hospital ' s pharmacy in angola . photo by :
a global health supply chain project that coordinates lifesaving deliveries has run into serious problems , putting vital treatments and health services at risk .
in response to devex’s report , usaid administrator mark green said the agency is watching its troubled program
like a hawk .
devex spoke to usaid administrator mark green , who said that he was “angry” about the project’s poor performance , and that the issue has strengthened his resolve to tackle problems with usaid procurement during his tenure .
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michael igoe is a senior reporter with devex , based in washington , d . c . he covers u . s . foreign aid , global health , climate change , and development finance . prior to joining devex , michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post - soviet central asia , where he also wrote for eurasianet . michael earned his bachelor ' s degree from bowdoin college , where he majored in russian , and his master’s degree from the university of montana , where he studied international conservation and development .
with the help of the feed the future uganda enabling environment for agriculture activity , uganda has launched a four - year strategy to implement the national grain trade policy . learn more here : urltoken
and presented to local stakeholders on june 29 , a milestone event that lays the groundwork for the multi - sectoral collaboration required for the successful implementation of the framework . cameroon is the first global health security agenda member country to adopt the emergency preparedness framework , taking an important first step toward ensuring the country’s