Career
In 2010, Maguire cofounded Escape Dynamics. [8]
In 2011, he was recruited by DARPA's director Regina Dugan. In the role, he was deployed as a civilian contractor in Afghanistan. [9]
In 2012, Maguire co-founded cyber firm Expanse (previously called Qadium), which was acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2020 for over $1 billion. [5] [10] [8] [11]
Maguire joined Google Ventures in 2016, where he worked for three years, before leaving for Sequoia Capital in 2019. [12]
Qadium (Expanse)
Qadium was a San Francisco–based cybersecurity startup that developed technology to map the global internet and detect when connected devices are added in any office worldwide, so that companies can spot unauthorized installations. The company originated from research conducted by founders with backgrounds in U.S. national-security and intelligence programs, including work associated with DARPA. [13] [14] Its tool named Expander could also identify devices intended to be isolated on private networks but unintentionally exposed to the public internet through misconfiguration or exploitation. [15]
In 2017, the company raised a $40 million Series B led by IVP, intended to expand engineering and commercial operations. [14] [15] Qadium later rebranded as Expanse, which raised an additional $70 million in 2019. [16]
The United States Cyber Command was a customer among other agencies. [17]
Political activism
Maguire served as an advisor to President Donald Trump in his second term, assisting with intelligence community picks. [4] [18] Maguire manages the investments of Sequoia Capital in Elon Musk's companies, including SpaceX, The Boring Company, xAI, and X, and assisted Musk during his tenure at DOGE. [18] [19] Maguire supported Trump during the 2024 election. [20] [21]
On July 4, 2025, Maguire posted on X that New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani “...comes from a culture that lies about everything. It's literally a virtue to lie if it advances his Islamist agenda. The West will learn this lesson the hard way." [22] [23] [24] Maguire's comments were widely criticized as racist and Islamophobic, including by Dilawar Syed, former deputy administrator of the United States Small Business Administration. [25] [26] [27] Saudi entrepreneur Hisham Al-Falih criticized Maguire's comments, describing them as "appalling". [28]
Maguire defended his post on July 7, 2025, [29] after which a petition signed by 900 tech leaders was circulated calling for Sequoia Capital to apologize for, condemn, and investigate Maguire's comments. [10] Supporters issued an open letter in defense of Maguire on July 8, 2025. [10] [30]
In the aftermath of the controversy, Sequoia’s COO Sumaiya Balbale, a practicing Muslim, resigned in August 2025. According to the Financial Times, Maguire’s remarks not only strained the firm’s relations with its Middle Eastern investors but were also described by Balbale as "Islamophobic". [31] [32] [33]
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