"Braswell grew up in rural Alabama, and wasn't introduced to poker until she was an undergrad at MIT. And it wasn't until she was an intern at Jane Street, the famed quantitative trading firm, that she was hooked on the game. "We didn't go out and party in New York-we stayed in and played poker," said Braswell. "So, that's how I really learned by playing every day against people at Jane Street.""
"Braswell immediately joined the MIT Poker Club, where she reunited with Alexandr Wang, who she'd first met at a competitive math competition in her junior year of high school. Braswell went on to be an early employee at Scale AI, at the time knowing nothing about venture capital. "I barely knew what VC as a concept was," she remembers. "Alex told me 'oh, we're signing a Series A term sheet.' And then I went off and Googled: 'What's a Series A term sheet?'""
"Braswell, now a partner at Kleiner Perkins, may be an unlikely VC, but her path to venture was built slowly and then all at once. She started angel investing in 2020, her last year at Scale: Her first check was into Ambience Healthcare, now valued at $1.1 billion. After more than two years at Founders Fund, Braswell joined Kleiner, a legendary firm in the midst of a turnaround led by Mamoon Hamid and Ilya Fushman."
Leigh Braswell grew up in rural Alabama and discovered poker as an undergrad at MIT, later learning intensively while interning at Jane Street. She joined the MIT Poker Club and reconnected with Alexandr Wang. Braswell became an early employee at Scale AI and began angel investing in 2020; her first check went to Ambience Healthcare, now valued at $1.1 billion. After more than two years at Founders Fund, she joined Kleiner Perkins during a turnaround led by Mamoon Hamid and Ilya Fushman. Braswell backed prominent AI deals including Windsurf (an Alphabet acquihire), Neon (acquired by Databricks), and Chronosphere (acquired by Palo Alto Networks).
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