Dan Levitan is a former
investment banker
Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by unde ...
turned
venture capital
Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...
investor
An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of pr ...
. He is co-founding partner at
Maveron
Maveron is an American venture capital firm that invests in consumer-only and early-stage companies, with offices in Seattle, Washington and San Francisco, California. The firm was co-founded by Dan Levitan and former Starbucks chief executive ...
, which invests in consumer-only businesses centered on technology-enabled products and services in commerce, education, and health and wellness.
Early life
Levitan is the son of Minna and Milton Levitan.
[New York Times: "WEDDINGS; Stacey Winston, Dan Levitan"]
November 8, 1998 Levitan is
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
. He is a graduate of
Duke University
Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...
and
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...
.
Career
After school, Levitan spent 15 years in investment banking focused primarily on consumer businesses. During his banking career, Levitan helped more than 100 companies go public, make strategic acquisitions or monetize the equity value they had created. As a managing director at Schroder
Wertheim & Co., including its predecessor companies (“Schroders”), he led the firm’s consumer group and founded its West Coast investment banking division. Levitan met
Howard Schultz
Howard D. Schultz (born July 19, 1953) is an American businessman and author who was the chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks from 1986 to 2000, from 2008 to 2017, and interim CEO from 2022 to 2023. Schultz owned the Seattle SuperS ...
in 1991, when
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...
began planning for its IPO.
Since co-founding the firm with
Howard Schultz
Howard D. Schultz (born July 19, 1953) is an American businessman and author who was the chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks from 1986 to 2000, from 2008 to 2017, and interim CEO from 2022 to 2023. Schultz owned the Seattle SuperS ...
in 1998, Levitan has led many of the firm’s successful investments including
Zulily
Zulily is an American e-commerce website with operations headquartered in Midvale, Utah. Its target audience are young mothers interested in brand-name goods for their children.
Months after its website closed, all of Zulily's intellectual prope ...
(NASDAQ: ZU),
Potbelly (NASDAQ: PBPB),
Trupanion
Trupanion, Inc. is a pet insurance provider headquartered in Seattle, Washington established in 1998. Operating across the United States, Canada, Australia, and Puerto Rico, Trupanion offers coverage for pets. The company is self-underwritten b ...
(NYSE: TRUP),
Capella Education Company (NASDAQ: CPLA),
eBay
eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
(NASDAQ: EBAY), and
Shutterfly
Shutterfly, LLC. is an American photography, photography products, and image sharing company, headquartered in San Jose, California. The company is mainly known for custom photo printing services, including books featuring user-provided images, ...
(NASDAQ: SFLY). He currently serves on the board of directors of Allbirds, Brewbird, daring foods, Domain Money, Engageli, Landing, Pacaso, Trupanion and Two Chairs.
Levitan has been recognized on the 2014 Forbes Midas List as one of the world's top investors. He has also been named NASDAQ private company director of the year.
Philanthropy
Levitan has acted as a board member to numerous private, public and philanthropic organizations. He currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of
Seattle Children’s Healthcare System and Seattle Children’s Hospital and he also serves on the Investment Advisory Committee for Seattle Children’s which oversees over $2B in AUM. Levitan is also chair of Brothers for Life (formerly Hope for Heroism), a charity dedicated to supporting wounded
Israeli Defense Force
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
soldiers.
Jewish Journal: "Israeli heroes: Some of them admit to needing help" by Simone Wilson
July 9, 2013
Personal life
Levitan married Stacey Rae Winston in a Jewish ceremony at the St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. They have two children together.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levitan, Dan
Duke University alumni
Harvard Business School alumni
Living people
American venture capitalists
American philanthropists
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century American Jews