Hello, I’m Zach Brauer, the founder of Pivot Education and the course creator / instructor for Modeling for Venture Capital.
I started Pivot Education to pay forward the help I received in my life from my countless mentors. Their time, effort, and counsel over the years have been invaluable, and I’m sure they’ll never know the impact they had on my life. I am thankful every day that they saw someone in need of support or an opportunity. Now, I am at a point in my life where I can start doing the same. I started this class for two close friends and two friends of theirs, thinking that even just teaching to 4 people would be impactful. I am humbled that through word of mouth and referrals it has evolved into a course well beyond my wildest expectations, and I am fortunate to have this opportunity to give back to so many people.
In addition to teaching this course, I am an operating partner at Google Ventures focused on venture finance. In that role, I partner with GV’s portfolio companies across different finance-related areas. My work with GV’s companies has included acting as fractional CFO, helping develop company budgets (including new company formation and later-stage), supporting the build-out of finance functions and teams, assessing acquisition opportunities, designing board materials, and navigating fundraising. I also works with GV’s life science investment team to assess investments and structure deals for private and public companies.
I am also an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, where I help teach courses on venture capital and entrepreneurial finance and serve on the Key Advisory Board of the Blavatnik Fellowship in Life Science Entrepreneurship.
My background revolves around transactions. I have worked in venture capital, private equity and debt, limited partnerships, investment-grade debt, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and divestitures. I previously worked with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota in the Corporate Development / Corporate Venture Group (Stella Ventures) and at Northwestern Mutual Capital, the private equity arm of Northwestern Mutual.
Outside of work, my primary activities are coaching and competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and fishing.
You can connect with me on LinkedIn or via the course’s contact page. You can also learn more about me and my teaching style here.