TAYLOR SMITH
Taylor brings a strong foundation in strategic analysis, transaction structuring and partnership development. He is a problem solver with the ability to translate complex business issues into concise frameworks and determine actionable solutions. He helped put together the strategic partnership between Mazin Education and Brightbytes, and his strategic advisory work with PBS opened the team to innovate new approaches to impact through educator engagement. For clients like ACE and ProLiteracy, deep analysis of underlying business data revealed opportunities for scalability, while for Dexler Information Systems, a relational approach to partnership structuring put cross-border transaction negotiations on strong footing. He has also led acquisition processes for a range of clients, including Gopher Sport, Fabulous-Furs and GenomeWeb, among others. Taylor serves as a mentor to the Village Capital and AT&T Aspires Education Accelerator venture cohort, as well as NYU’s StartEd Accelerator. He is a guest lecturer for Princeton University's Bendheim Center for Finance.
Taylor has been active in the education, technology and consumer markets for 15 years. He began his career at Morgan Stanley where he focused on M&A advisory in the technology sector. He was later a private equity professional at The Carlyle Group, a leading global leveraged buyouts fund, where his consumer sector deal experience included the acquisitions of Dunkin’ Brands and Oriental Trading Company.
Taylor received a B.S.E. degree in Operations Research and Financial Engineering with high honors from Princeton University.