TickerTain
TickerTain
NewsroomShortsPortfolioConvergence
NewsroomShortsPortfolioConvergence
←
▶ 21:45 · $SEQUOIA · Sequoia chosen for seed and Series A for patient capital and founder alignment
episode briefing
Kleiner Perkins

From Airbnb to Linear: How Karri Saarinen Redefined Product Design

2026-04-20 · 3 company · 4 thematic
sentiment
3 bull0 bear0 neu
speakers
karri saarinen

Former principal designer at Airbnb and first designer at Coinbase. Founded Linear in 2019, building a developer-focused issue tracking tool. Advocates for slow hiring, quality over speed, remote work, and 40-hour weeks.

quote
“we did the seed with Sequoia and then we did the series A with Sequoia so we could kind of like manage the dilution and also the process is kind of easier... on Sequoia, I think I did go with them and with more like less experienced partne…”
—karri saarinen

episode shorts · 3

AI is Speeding Up Everything. Should You?

When Fundraising Backfires

Why Small Teams Build Better Products

now playing · $SEQUOIA
$LINEARbullish· high· poskarri saarinen
Linear compounds efficiently: ~$80M raised, default alive since year 2, doubling revenue yearly
Linear has raised only ~$70-80M across three rounds, reached default alive within two years, and doubles revenue annually with a tiny team (120 people at $10-15M ARR at Series B),…
$ACCELbullish· high· poskarri saarinen
Excel led Series B and C for patient, long-term orientation
Linear chose Excel for Series B and C because they are a large, established firm that doesn't care about markups and simply wants the company to be best-in-class in its market.
$SEQUOIAbullish· high· poskarri saarinen
Sequoia chosen for seed and Series A for patient capital and founder alignment
Karri Saarinen selected Sequoia for Linear's first two rounds because they align with a long-term, patient approach and don't pressure for markups; he deliberately chose a less ex…