Francisco Partners’ Brian Decker and Jason Brein Named to GrowthCap’s List of the Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors of 2021

GrowthCap’s Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors of 2021 awardees were selected based on the depth of their deal experience, demonstrated ability to help the companies they invest in, collaborative work style, and progression towards firm and industry leadership roles, among other attributes.

Brian Decker

Brian Decker is a Partner at Francisco Partners. His focus is on investing in companies across the enterprise security and infrastructure software markets. Throughout his career at Francisco Partners, Brian has led many software and security investments including the firm’s recent carve-out of Boomi from Dell, its carve-out of Forcepoint from Raytheon in 2020 as well as its recent sale of Quest Software five years after its acquisition from Dell. Brian currently serves on the board of directors of BeyondTrust, Boomi, Perforce, Forcepoint, Quest, Smartbear, and SonicWALL. He formerly served on the board of directors of Grass Valley, Healthland, K2, Plex Systems, Sectigo, and Watchguard.

Prior to joining Francisco Partners in 2008, Brian was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company where he focused on engagements in the semiconductor, telecommunications and hardware sectors. Earlier in his career, he worked at Mindspeed Technologies and Skyworks Solutions in a variety of product and strategic marketing roles. Brian graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in Computer Engineering and holds a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.

“At Francisco Partners, we have a deep passion for technology and the companies in which we invest. Through our sub-sector specializations, I’ve had the chance to carve out a focus on the infrastructure software and enterprise security sectors, and we’ve had an exciting opportunity to directly support the growth of our companies in these markets.” —Brian Decker

Jason Brein

Jason Brein is a Partner at Francisco Partners. Jason’s primary focus is on investing across growing application software and education technology companies. This past year, Jason led investments in companies such as BARBRI, Nearpod, VitalSource, Follett School Solutions and MyFitnessPal. Jason currently serves on the board of directors of BARBRI, Civitas Learning, Discovery Education, Follett School Solutions, MyFitnessPal, Renaissance, Verifone, and VitalSource. Jason formerly served on the board of directors of Capsilon, Corsair, CoverMyMeds, Metaswitch Networks, myON, NMI, and Paymetric.

Prior to joining Francisco Partners in 2012, Jason worked at Elevation Partners, a technology-focused private equity fund in Silicon Valley. Before Elevation, Jason was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. Jason graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Public and International Affairs. He also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

“Francisco Partners has long been an active growth investor in the education technology market, and the importance of this sector to the future of the education system has never been more clear. We are focused on partnering with innovative ed tech founders and management teams at companies that leverage technology to deliver personalized learning and drive cost efficiencies. With the infusion of technology into education only continuing to accelerate, we are excited about the opportunities ahead within this market.” —Jason Brein

About the GrowthCap Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors of 2021

In its eighth year running this awards process, GrowthCap was astounded by the dramatic increase in capital and talent dedicated to the growth investing asset class since the first cohort of awardees were selected in 2014. It was most competitive year since inception with hundreds of nominations submitted in support of some of today’s best growth investors. The nominees were truly impressive; each demonstrating notable business intellect and judgment, consistent work ethic, high emotional intelligence and a determination to push through the most challenging situations.

GrowthCap received substantive feedback on nominees from their colleagues, peers, portfolio company CEOs and others who have witnessed their investment skill and performance. According to the publication, it was extremely challenging to make selections given the large pool of high caliber candidates. Ultimately, awardees were selected based on the depth of their deal experience, demonstrated ability to help the companies they invest in, collaborative work style, and progression towards firm and industry leadership roles, among other attributes.

To learn more about the awards process and methodology and to read the original article, please visit: growthcapadvisory.com/the-top-40-under-40-growth-investors-of-2021