BREAKING: How Elon Builds Trillion-Dollar Companies Shaun Maguire (@shaunmmaguire), Partner at Sequoia: "I first invested in 2019.. cumulative invested probably $1.2 billion, & across all the different funds, that position's worth about $12 billion today.. in the $800 billion valuation. And so hopefully, in the IPO it's worth a lot more." Shaun & @sequoia have backed 5 of Elon's companies: SpaceX, xAI, Neuralink, The Boring Company, & X. This interview is a behind-the-scenes look inside Elon’s operating system — from one of the most technically fluent investors in Silicon Valley. This was so much fun, I hope you enjoy! Highlights: (00:00) Shaun Maguire, Partner at Sequoia Capital (01:10) SpaceX Upcoming IPO & data centers in space (05:00) The math behind space-based data centers (07:05) Breaking down Starlink from first principles (12:10) Economics of Starlink vs legacy telecom (14:41) Starlink + self-driving cars (16:29) Starship, direct-to-cell, & the next decade roadmap (19:38) SpaceX investment size and returns so far (20:25) Why is Elon still underrated? (21:33) How SpaceX went from contrarian to consensus (25:39) Why does Elon keep a tight investor circle? (27:06) Why does the market still underestimate xAI? (29:47) AI capex, liquidity cycles, & why spending is rational (32:11) Staying private vs going public: what makes more sense (35:47) Mission-driven cultures vs post-liquidity slowdown (37:53) Preparing founders psychologically for liquidity events (40:33) Why this may be the healthiest wealth creation cycle