An open letter voicing support for a Sequoia Capital partner is circulating online after the VC’s remarks about New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani generated backlash.
Sequoia Capital has faced pressure to act after its partner, Shaun Maguire, called Mamdani an “Islamist” — a remark Maguire has said was political, not religious or racial. An open letter signed by hundreds of self-identified founders, investors, and tech workers called on the VC firm to take disciplinary action on Maguire.
Now, a letter of support is generating signatures of its own.
“On July 4, Shaun published a post on X,” the letter reads. “Whether one agrees with his views or not, his words were not hate speech – they were the reflections of a principled thinker and a partner to countless founders who span geographies, faiths, and political beliefs.”
“The calls to punish or remove him are part of a larger and worrying trend: ideological mobbing disguised as a moral virtue,” the letter continued.
“We know Shaun personally. He has helped build careers, fund companies, and elevate voices across divides,” the letter said. “We’ve experienced his integrity, intellectual honesty, and commitment to the global founder community firsthand. Attempts to paint him as bigoted are not only false – they’re defamatory.”
Read the letter in full below:
An Open Letter in Support of Shaun Maguire
We, the undersigned founders, investors, operators, and technologists from across the industry, are writing to express our unequivocal support for Shaun Maguire and to denounce the coordinated effort to silence him for expressing personal convictions.
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On July 4, Shaun published a post on X. Whether one agrees with his views or not, his words were not hate speech – they were the reflections of a principled thinker and a partner to countless founders who span geographies, faiths, and political beliefs.
The calls to punish or remove him are part of a larger and worrying trend: ideological mobbing disguised as a moral virtue.
We know Shaun personally. He has helped build careers, fund companies, and elevate voices across divides. We’ve experienced his integrity, intellectual honesty, and commitment to the global founder community firsthand. Attempts to paint him as bigoted are not only false – they’re defamatory.
We reject the framing of ideological disagreement as violence. We reject the chilling message that nuanced or unpopular opinions make one unfit to serve. And we reject the idea that the tech industry must conform to a narrow ideological orthodoxy in order to be “inclusive.”
We call on our peers across the ecosystem to stand against ideological bullying – whether it targets Jews, Muslims, Christians, atheists, liberals, conservatives, or anyone in between.
Shaun has stood by peers and founders in their most difficult moments. It’s time we return the favor.
Respectfully,
The undersigned
