It all started on a yacht. A local VC firm had rented a boat and invited Seattle-based investors out for an afternoon on Lake Washington on a sweltering July day two years ago. It was really more of a party boat, but it was filled with a bunch of venture capitalists, so let’s call it a yacht.
About an hour into the cruise, I met Jen Haller, who had recently started working with Kirby Winfield at Ascend. We hit it off immediately, and I told her about a recent Poker Power event I attended as part of the yearlong JOURNEY Fellowship I was completing. I was fired up about the way Jenny Just explained the links between poker and empowering women in business, and I casually suggested we should host some games in Seattle.
“Let’s do it!!” Jen replied without hesitation.
I was incredibly lucky that day to meet a collaborator with a strong bias for action. Within days, Jen had initiated a planning email thread and we were ironing out details. We looped in one of my portfolio CEOs, Grin Lord of mpathic, and she offered to host the first event at her home. 6 weeks later, Grin’s living room was filled with about 40 women who had founded startups or were actively investing in startups.
After a quick poker lesson, everyone dove right in and started playing. There were victorious shouts, dismayed groans, and lots and lots of laughter. I’d been playing poker since I was 15, but this was the most fun I’d ever had, and I was hooked.
Grin ended up meeting a new investor for her company that night. “It’s been easy to forge new connections through poker because everyone is having a good time and focused on the game. I end up learning things about people through how they play the game and table talk, which has naturally led to collaboration in some cases,” says Grin.
The feedback from our community was overwhelmingly clear: they wanted to play more poker and level up their skills. Jen, Grin and I decided we wanted to keep the momentum going, so we partnered with Poker Power for our next event at Armoire headquarters and flew in three pros from the Poker Power team to coach. It was an incredibly memorable experience that people were talking about for months, and we were flooded with interest from women (and some men!) who wanted to join future games.
After one of our first games, a VC in attendance remarked on how players’ styles at the poker table gave her a window into how they might make decisions or think about risk while running their companies. Over time, we’ve seen women play more boldly and confidently, and many of them have seen that translate into their professional lives.
Jen and Grin then had the brilliant idea to help organize house games, and several women volunteered to host. Since last summer, women founders and funders in the Seattle area have played dozens of games, and some of them have become true card sharks. Nearly $1M has been invested in companies from relationships that were sparked at the poker table, and many other women have found meaningful ways to collaborate outside of the games. Steph Foley, Cofounder & CEO of Yuzi Care, met someone who became an advisor to her company at a house game. Nancy Li of BrightAI met the head of a leadership program that she subsequently applied to and joined, and she’s been hosting monthly games in her home.
Jen recently reflected on the impact these games have had in Seattle: “It has been a total joy to help grow this community. It’s such a special opportunity for founders and funders to get together, learn poker, and make connections that lead to a stronger network.”
Our summer calendar is already full of poker games in Seattle, and I’m sure the women playing will be taking exciting risks at the table and beyond.
Special thank you to the allies and sponsors who have made our Seattle games possible: Bob Crimmins of Startup Haven, Fenwick & West, First Republic, CBRE, Stifel Venture and DWT.
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written by Martina Welkhoff, Founding Partner of Goldenrod Ventures and WXR Fund.
