Michael Moritz – Life in Seven Songs: Live

A different kind of conversation with Michael Moritz – only at the JCCSF.

A Live Podcast Taping Co-presented with The San Francisco Standard

What songs tell your life story?

JCCSF and The San Francisco Standard co-present a special live taping of Life in Seven Songs, the acclaimed podcast hosted by Sophie Bearman, featuring Michael Moritz – one of Silicon Valley's most influential investors and philanthropists, former TIME journalist, and author of the acclaimed memoir Ausländer.

Through seven defining songs, Moritz reflects on family, identity, ambition, memory, and the experiences that shaped his remarkable journey – from postwar Wales to Silicon Valley. Along the way, the conversation explores the deeply personal story behind Ausländer, a moving meditation on exile, Jewish identity, belonging, and the enduring legacy of the Holocaust.

The memoir grew out of discoveries Moritz made while sorting through family papers after his mother's death, uncovering the stories of relatives murdered in the Holocaust. What began as an effort to understand his family's past became a profound exploration of memory, displacement, and the ways history continues to shape our lives.

"An engaging memoir of dislocation and an examination of how tragedy reverberates across generations." – The Economist

Born in Cardiff, Wales, Michael Moritz spent 35 years at Sequoia Capital, where he became one of the most successful venture investors of his generation. A former TIME journalist and author of several books – including The Little Kingdom, the classic account of Apple's early years – he and his wife, Harriet Heyman, founded the San Francisco-based philanthropy Crankstart. He is the owner and publisher of The San Francisco Standard and serves as Honorary Co-Chair of JCCSF's Next 150: Community for Generations Capital Campaign.

Sophie Bearman is Senior Editor and Director of Audio, Video, and Social at The San Francisco Standard and creator and host of Life in Seven Songs, the acclaimed interview podcast that explores the lives of artists, innovators, and cultural leaders through the music that shaped them. Past guests include Jony Ive, Walter Isaacson, Sam Altman, Kara Swisher, Mayim Bialik, and Al Roker.

Our community partners for this event are Congregation Emanu-El and JFCS Holocaust Center.

Questions? Email support@jccsf.org