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1/10 A few points. Most of you may not know the final outcome of my dispute with Sequoia, but it is public now. In summary, the arbitration tribunal dismissed all of Sequoia's claims.
2/ I won, but the case was very damaging. First, Sequoia took out an injunction against me which prevented me from raising finance for Binance at the end of 2017 which was a critical time in the market and when there was huge interest in Binance from other VCs and investors. 
3/ The injunction and Sequoia's serious allegations against me were made public, but I was not able to publicly defend myself because the arbitration was confidential.
4/ The Hong Kong courts later determined that Sequoia's actions in obtaining the injunction were an abuse of process. Late last year, the arbitration tribunal finally determined that all of Sequoia's claims were completely without merit.
5/ Sequoia (China) paid $2,400,000 in legal fees for their part, and lost the case. I had to front USD $779,043 for over a year to cover my legal expenses, which eventually was paid by Sequoia because they lost. But I had to front it.
6/ This case illustrates a few points. For most entrepreneurs, they will not be able to: front $779,000 to fight a lawsuit; secure additional funding for their startup given a pending lawsuit, even one that’s clearly without proper base and where the claimant will surely lose.
7/ It is also a huge distraction to have a legal case while running a startup. Many start-ups would have had no choice but to give in to the unfair terms / practices employed by the VC, a very famous VC at that.
8/ Even after winning the award, I was not allowed to make the results public, while the fact I got sued was made public right away. A loophole in the legal system. I have to counter sue to make the results public.
9/ For VCs, this tactic would have worked in most cases. It is a tool legally available to them. It is a weakness in our legal system, and unprofessional behaviour by VCs. VCs are supposed to help entrepreneurs. I don’t know how many other cases like these are out there.
10/10. We don’t just play defense. We fight for our industry.
11. Finally, luckily for today’s entrepreneurs now, there are other options available now. Welcome to blockchain based fundraising.
