Kleiner Perkins partner Leigh Marie Braswell’s poker strategy informs her approach to risk: “When the odds are good, you go all in.”

Leigh Marie Braswell has an affinity for games involving risk, especially those rooted in mathematics.

Raised in rural Alabama, Braswell first encountered poker as an undergraduate at MIT. However, it was during her internship at the renowned quantitative trading firm Jane Street that she truly became captivated by the game.

“Instead of going out to party in New York, we stayed in and played poker,” Braswell recalled. “That daily practice against the Jane Street team is how I genuinely learned.”

She promptly became a member of the MIT Poker Club, reconnecting there with Alexandr Wang, whom she had initially met at a high school math competition. Braswell later became an early employee at Scale AI, entering the role with no prior knowledge of venture capital.

“I hardly understood the fundamental concept of VC,” she said. “Alex mentioned, ‘we’re signing a Series A term sheet,’ which led me to immediately search online to find out what that was.”

Now a partner at Kleiner Perkins, Braswell’s journey into venture capital might seem unexpected, but it was a path that developed gradually before accelerating rapidly. She began angel investing in 2020, her final year at Scale, with her first investment going into Ambience Healthcare, a company now valued at $1.1 billion. Following a tenure of over two years at Founders Fund, she joined Kleiner Perkins, a historic firm undergoing a revival under Mamoon Hamid and Ilya Fushman. Over more than six months of engaging with the Kleiner team, including Braswell, to document this turnaround, she consistently emerged as a rising star within the firm and the broader VC landscape.

The reason is straightforward: Braswell played a pivotal role as an investor in several of the most prominent AI deals of 2025. At Kleiner, she invested in Windsurf (later acquired by Alphabet) and Neon (acquired by Databricks). Her earlier deal at Founders Fund to back Chronosphere also resulted in the company’s acquisition. (Indeed, 2025 was a standout year for Braswell, who has accumulated six years in VC—a field where achieving one or two significant exits in a decade is often considered a success.)

Despite this track record, Braswell—whose current Kleiner portfolio features companies like Nooks, Convoke, Reevo, Avoca, and Forge—does not strictly identify as an AI investor.

“I characterize my approach as relatively generalist,” she explained. “Nevertheless… it’s crucial to cultivate unfair advantages, or deep connections within specific networks. And currently, for good reason, those influential networks are predominantly centered on or connected to AI.”

Braswell began hosting regular poker games with Wang during her time at Scale, a tradition she maintains. These gatherings have evolved into a component of her investment methodology, serving as a consistent channel for discovering deals, fostering relationships with founders, and aiding portfolio companies with recruitment. Beyond its practical utility, it also represents a particular mindset.

This is because poker, much like early-stage investing, revolves around calculating probabilities and making choices with limited information. Even when full knowledge is unavailable, you can still assess the odds.

“The fundamental principle from poker,” Braswell stated, “and one I value in venture capital, is this: When the odds are favorable, you commit your resources fully.”

Exclusive…TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics company that develops crime-fighting software for government and corporate clients, has secured $70 million in a Series C funding round, achieving a valuation of $1 billion. Full details are available .

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Term Sheet Podcast… This week’s episode of the Term Sheet Podcast features Kristina Shen from Chemistry. In 2024, Shen departed her position as a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz to co-found the new venture firm Chemistry with Mark Goldberg and Ethan Kurzweil. Kristina discusses the process of launching a VC firm from the ground up, her perspectives on AI revenue, and the healthcare sector.

See you tomorrow,

Allie Garfinkle
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