If I was Sequoia, I would basically require that all Sequoia investments be kept in utmost secrecy until the investment round closes. Thus, nobody would be able

If I was Sequoia, I would basically require that all Sequoia investments be kept in utmost secrecy until the investment round closes. Thus, nobody would be able to piggy back of the Sequoia investments. Think about it, what does Sequoia really do? They do not really provide capital, because they use other people's capital. Their contribution or value is in selecting the investments. Presumably, they are so popular and rich and successful because they are very good at selecting profitable investments. If you think about it in this way, it is no surprise at all that there is a herd mentality with VCs. It is actually kind of logical. If an investor merely follows the Sequoia investments, they will get the benefit of Sequoia's presumably excellent investment picking skills without having to pay Sequoia anything. For example, imagine if you are an investor that is well connected in SV and you simply sniff out deals where Sequoia is investing and put in 10c of your money for every dollar that Sequoia puts in. That is like being an investor of a Sequoia fund. But it is even better because the actual Sequoia investors would have to pay costs to finance the salaries of the very well paid Sequoia partners. You on the other hand get in for free. So Sequoia is crazy to let other people in on what investments they are making.