Sequence’s Michael Lee argues buyout funds’ exit timelines can clash with deeper AI-driven rebuilds

What was said

"The reality is is if you think about your typical investment in a fund, it's, you know, they'll tell you it's a long time horizon. You're typically trying to figure out how do we start to package to sell this thing in three years."

Michael Lee argues that traditional buyout firms may face structural limits in “refounding” incumbent businesses around AI, including difficulty attracting top engineers into decision-making roles and a shorter practical time horizon for repositioning assets. He contrasts that with Sequence’s approach, saying the firm aims to do roughly one deal per year and to build an organisation where engineers are central to major decisions.