Lenny Pruss emigrated from the Soviet Union as a refugee and grew up in Silicon Valley with engineer parents who transitioned into tech, giving him an early view of technology as an engine of upward mobility, while his pivot from computer science at UC Berkeley to venture capital left him with deep respect for engineering combined with a focus on exploring the future through investing. He deliberately focused on infrastructure over consumer apps early in his career, specializing in cloud, DevOps, data infrastructure, and developer tools, and has become known for backing what he calls the lunatic fringe—deeply technical founders who are obsessed with solving problems they've felt viscerally, emphasizing that he seeks builders willing to spend a decade on solutions rather than chasing traditional business signals. Lenny Pruss emigrated from the Soviet Union as a refugee and grew up in Silicon Valley with engineer parents who transitioned into tech, giving him an early view of technology as an engine of upward mobility, while his pivot from computer science at UC Berkeley to venture capital left him with deep respect for engineering combined with a focus on exploring the future through investing. He deliberately focused on infrastructure over consumer apps early in his career, specializing in cloud, DevOps, data infrastructure, and developer tools, and has become known for backing what he calls the lunatic fringe—deeply technical founders who are obsessed with solving problems t