Prior to GSV Advisors, Deborah co-founded ThinkEquity Partners in 2001, which grew to a 180-person investment bank with 5 offices in the U.S. While at ThinkEquity, Deborah was President and Head of Investment Banking. ThinkEquity was acquired in March 2007 by London-based Panmure Gordon (AIM: PMR) where Deborah was a Board member. She has been a longtime growth investment banker and now focuses primarily on education and business services. Prior to ThinkEquity, Deborah was a Managing Director in Investment Banking at Merrill Lynch & Co., where she worked from 1987-2001 and started the Global Growth Group. She previously worked at J.P. Morgan.

Presently, Deborah serves on the Board of Web.com (NASDAQ: WWWW), an internet services company serving small- to medium-sized businesses globally. She is also a member of the Boards of Steppenwolf Theater Company; Teach for America Chicago; New Schools for Chicago Fund; Marwen, a visual arts education provider for underserved youth; NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) Chicago; and KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) Chicago. GSV Advisors also has a partnership with Arizona State University and the firm co-hosts an annual Education Innovation Summit at ASU Skysong. Deborah graduated cum laude with a BA in history from Princeton University in 1982 and an MBA from Harvard University in 1987.

He then published two subsequent influential white papers, The Book of Knowledge and The Knowledge Web. In addition to serving as co-Chairman of the Arizona State Education Innovation Council with ASU President Michael Crow, Michael is on the Board of Directors for ePals, StormWind, and the Center for Education Reform. He is also on the National Advisory Board for Communities in School as well as Board Observer for Grockit, RSmart, and Kno.

Michael is well known and regarded as one of the world's preeminent authorities on growth investing. His insights are routinely solicited by everyone from CNBC to Barron's to Congress. Recognized as one of the best and brightest investors on Wall Street, his honors include Institutional Investor's "All American" research team, The Wall Street Journal's "Best on the Street" award, and being named by Business Week as "one of the best stock pickers in the country."

He has also written extensively about investing in the emerging growth equity markets. His acclaimed 2006 book Finding the Next Starbucks: How to Identify and Invest in the Hot Stocks of Tomorrow (Penguin Group) details Michael's investment process and philosophy which he's refined over more than two decades in the investment community. A business best-seller, Finding the Next Starbucks has gone through three printings in five languages and been lauded for its insights into investing in premier emerging growth companies.

Prior to starting GSV, Michael co-founded and served as chairman and CEO of ThinkEquity Partners, an asset management and investment banking firm focusing on venture capital, entrepreneurial and emerging growth companies. Before ThinkEquity, he held positions as Head of Global Growth Research at Merrill Lynch and Head of Growth Research and Strategy at Montgomery Securities.