Lamonds keep it in the family

Venture capital is such a family business. Pierre Lamond, a founder of National Semiconductor, is a Silicon Valley icon; he's still active as a partner in Sequoia Capital, the powerful venture capital firm that invested in both Google and Yahoo. His son-in-law, Mark Kvamme, is also at Sequoia, though his investment track record is less stellar. And now it turns out that Lamond's son, David, works at a secretive hedge fund which has wormed its way into Sequoia investments, according to PE Week.

Artis Capital, where David Lamond works, came to attention as one of the investors in Youtube, the online video service which Sequoia Capital sold to Google for $1.65bn earlier this year. After the sale, Stuart Peterson of Artis paid $20m for the 10,500 square foot Tiburon house once owned by Andre Agassi.

As hedge funds have exploded, in number and funds under management, they have tried to get into all kinds of deals, even investing in small private companies traditionally the province of venture capital. It's been a bit of a mystery: why would Sequoia Capital, which has no shortage of funds or appetite for risk, make space for a an investor bringing no strategic benefit to a portfolio company?

Artis has invested, not just in Youtube, but in other Sequoia companies such as Open Silicon and Adbrite. Ah, Open Silicon is one of Pierre Lamond's pet investments; and the lead partner on the Adbrite deal was Mark Kvamme, as you'll remember, Lamond's son-in-law. Cosy.

Artis Capital profits from Sequoia relationship [PE Week]

Contact information for this author is not available.