The GSV Advisors team has been involved in over 75 equity and 43 M&A/financial advisory transactions in education and business services, representing in excess of $14.2 billion of transaction activity. And over the past 20 years, our principals have collectively completed 283 transactions totaling over $41.2 billion.

A testament to the types of partnerships we form with our clients, we're most proud of the ongoing relationships with those who rely on us for broad strategic guidance and representation. In fact, we've earned the opportunity to participate in multiple transactions and return engagements with the likes of Franklin Covey, ABS Capital Partners, and Scientific Learning, to name a few

Deborah Quazzo

Founder + Managing Partner

Deborah is an investment banker and entrepreneur. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of GSV Advisors, which she started in April 2009. GSV Advisors is a merchant bank providing advisory services to the education and business services sectors. Additionally, as part of her involvement in the education sector, she is an individual investor in companies including Dreambox, Clever, Parchment, Altius, Think Through Math, HotChalk, and Tynker. GSV clients have included Collaborative Learning, Campus Labs, The Gates Foundation, Eloyalty, Praml International, Teachscape, rSmart and ePals (TSXV:SLN). GSV Advisors also has a partnership with Arizona State University to co-host the annual Education Innovation Summit in Scottsdale, AZ and Co-Chair of the SXSW Launchedu Advisory Board.

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 and Deborah was a member of the London-based Panmure Gordon (AIM: PMR) Board until her departure in 2009. Prior to ThinkEquity, Deborah was Managing Director in Investment Banking and head of the Global Growth Group at Merrill Lynch & Co., where she worked for 13 years. She previously worked at J.P. Morgan.

Deborah currently serves on the Board of Web.com (NASDAQ: WWWW), an internet services company serving small- to medium-sized businesses. 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; The Chicago Public Education Fund; and KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) Chicago. Deborah graduated cum laude with a BA in history from Princeton University in 1982 and an MBA from Harvard University in 1987.

Michael Moe

Advisor

Michael is an advisor to GSV Advisors and founder of its sister companies GSV Asset Management and GSV Capital. He also publishes a suite of newsletters on the growth economy, including Edu Weekly which focuses on the education market.

Michael has been a leader in championing innovation in education for over twenty years. In 1996, he wrote The Dawn of the Age of Knowledge which accurately foresaw many of the key developments in the industry including online education, charter schools, and global learning. 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.

Michael Cohn

Vice President

Michael joined GSV Advisors in May 2011. Prior to joining GSV, Mr. Cohn worked as an Associate Vice President at SIM Capital where he was responsible for originating and executing investments in the clean energy and healthcare sectors. He began his career as an Associate at Deloitte Corporate Finance, advising industrial manufacturing and consumer products clients on both domestic and cross-border financing and strategic alternatives, mergers and acquisitions, and leveraged buyouts. Mr. Cohn holds an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and received a BBA with Honors from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.

Jason Horne

Associate

Jason joined GSV Advisors in August 2011. Prior to joining GSV, Mr. Horne worked as an Associate at Deloitte Corporate Finance in Chicago, the middle-market investment banking affiliate of Deloitte LLP. While at Deloitte, Jason focused on middle-market transactions in a wide variety of industries across the globe. Mr. Horne received his B.S. in Finance with honors from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.

Patrick Shelton

Associate

Patrick joined GSV Advisors in July 2012. Prior to joining GSV Advisors, Patrick worked as an Analyst in the Investment Banking Division of Credit Suisse in Chicago. While at Credit Suisse, Patrick focused on a variety of transactions across the Education, Industrial, and Service industries. Patrick received a B.S. in Finance and Biology from Indiana University.