Daniel Pianko

Partner, University Ventures

Daniel is a Partner at University Ventures, which invests in transformative post-secondary education companies. He has served as an investor in and advisor to education companies in their strategic and development initiatives throughout his ten years in the education industry.

Daniel began his career as an investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs, where he advised on transactions including mergers and equity financing. He entered the education industry as Director of Strategy and Planning at LearnNow, a charter school management company that was acquired by Edison Schools. Since his work with LearnNow, he has served as the lead operating executive of a 1,200 student university, on the board of one of the largest distributors of K-12 technology products and as the lead analyst of an education-focused hedge fund.

Currently, Daniel sits on the board of Altius Education Inc. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and conventions and his article “Venture Capital: Looking Outside the Education Sector” was recently published as part of an American Enterprise Institute series by Harvard University Press. Daniel graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University and received a M.B.A. and M.A. in Education from Stanford University, where he chaired Stanford’s Business of Education Conference.