Brooke Seawell Interview

When you started your career as an operating executive before moving into venture investing, what led you to make that transition?

I spent 25 years with four companies, usually as CFO, but often running HR, legal, IT, and operations. I sometimes call myself the VP of everything else. Three of those companies went public, and the fourth was sold to Sun Microsystems. After the sale, I took time off and realized I had too much energy to retire. I was about to take another operating role when a late-stage venture firm approached me. Their partners had financial backgrounds but no operating experience, and they wanted someone who had built and scaled companies. I debated returning as a COO or joining the venture firm. Late-stage investing focused on scaling and profitability, which matched my experience. That fit led me to venture investing.

Looking back, what early career experience shaped how you lead and make decisions today?

I helped build multiple successful companies, including one I founded. That taught me how to move a company from early growth to scale, which is directly applicable in venture work. I also focused heavily on developing people. My belief was that every leader should grow someone capable of eventually taking their role. At one company, six people from my finance team became CFOs elsewhere. That experience now carries into my work mentoring CFOs across our portfolio. I also believe in what I call Silicon Valley karma. If you consistently help people, opportunities return indirectly over time. That mindset has served me well.

You’ve worked closely with many founders. What sets the best ones apart early on?

Vision and relentless learning. Jensen Huang at NVIDIA is the clearest example. When I first met him, he was young and inexperienced as an executive. What set him apart was his ability to think several moves ahead and his willingness to learn anything he didn’t know. Finance, HR, legal — none were natural to him. But if you explained why something mattered, he mastered it. The best founders combine vision with the discipline to keep learning.

How do you decide what is worth betting on in technology?

I look for opportunities that match core strengths and where we can be truly differentiated. At NVIDIA, our strength is high-performance numerical computing. So we evaluate whether a new market plays to that strength and whether it’s a market we can help create rather than simply enter. Artificial intelligence was one such market. First-mover advantage combined with technical specialization creates lasting competitive edges.

What advice would you give someone early in their career who wants to work in technology or investing?

If I were starting again, I would begin at a well-run, mature company to learn how strong organizations operate. Then I would move to a younger company to apply that knowledge and enjoy the creative chaos. Both experiences matter. Large companies teach structure. Small companies teach adaptability.

What difficult career moment ended up changing your path for the better?

I founded my first company, Softbook Technologies. It had strong technology but a fragmented market. We served wildly different customers, which made scaling difficult. Later I had the choice to stay or join a semiconductor company that showed greater growth potential. Leaving my own company was emotionally difficult, but it led to successive opportunities — taking companies public, joining Synopsys, and eventually joining NVIDIA’s board. It was a risky decision that shaped the rest of my career.

What keeps you curious and motivated after so many years?

Learning. At NVIDIA board meetings I see future technologies before they become mainstream. Robotics, AI, new computing architectures. That constant exposure to what’s next keeps me energized. I also believe retirement is mental disengagement. I prefer to stay active and keep learning.

What habits have helped you stay effective over a long career?

Exercise. I bike 2,000 to 3,000 miles a year, train regularly, and stretch weekly. Long rides give me uninterrupted thinking time. Physical discipline supports mental clarity.

Looking back, what are you most grateful for in your career journey?

My parents. They grew up in the Great Depression in Arkansas. My father rose from poverty to attend West Point, served 25 years in the Air Force, then built a second career in aviation. My parents moved 25 times in my childhood to follow his service, and in every place they found the best schools possible for my sister and me. Their discipline, sacrifice, and belief in education made everything that followed possible.