Windsurf: The Making of a Billion-Dollar AI Company

Leigh Marie Braswell, Partner at Kleiner Perkins, speaks with Molly O'Shea on the rise of AI and its impact on venture capital. We discuss KP's 21st venture fund, KP21, an $825M fund to back early stage companies, and their third select fund, KP Select III, a $1.2 billion fund to back high inflection investments. We also go deeper into key AI infrastructure trends and machine learning applications, investments in companies like Windsurf, Glean, and Ambience, and the evolution of Kleiner Perkins over its 50+ years. Learn about the firm's investment strategy, the significance of maintaining a small team, and the process of finding exceptional talent. Leigh Marie also shares her background at Scale AI and insights into creating 'talent vortexes.' A must-watch for entrepreneurs, investors, and AI enthusiasts.Leigh Marie Braswell is a Partner at Kleiner Perkins, where she focuses on investing in infrastructure and machine learning (ML) application startups. She joined the firm in 2023 after serving as a Principal at Founders Fund. Previously, she was an early engineer and the first product manager at Scale AI, leading development for 3D annotation products used in autonomous vehicles, robotics, and AR/VR.Molly on X: https://x.com/MollySOSheaGuest on X: https://x.com/ttunguzFollow Sourcery for the latest updates! https://www.sourcery.vc/TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Introduction00:25 $10B+ AUM: Kleiner's Legendary Generational Transformation08:08 Windsurf: Angel Investment to Potential $3B Acquisition18:21 Hyper-Competitive AI Landscape25:43 ARR, Fraud, & Scams31:52 Code-Gen Competition: Cursor, Devin, Copilot, Windsurf35:48  Key Trends in AI Infra & ML Applications40:13 Leigh Marie's Background & Scale AI Journey46:17 Talent Vortexes & Investing52:34 Seed-Strapped Companies & Growth58:37 Poker Nights & Networking01:03:05 Looking Forward: AI and Founders