Jim Brown

Founder & General Partner, Arena Growth Partners

Austin

Jim is a Co-Founder & General Partner of Arena Growth Partners, a new Austin-based venture capital firm focused on IT and IT-enabled businesses in need of a capital partner with operations experience and a servant leadership mentality.  Jim brings industry domain expertise and a successful investment track record in private equity and venture capital, as well as CEO and director experience in several private companies. Jim was most notably a General Partner at Polaris Venture Partners, where he identified, led, and actively participated in investments in early-stage IT companies. During his tenure, Polaris grew from over $85M to over $3B in assets under management (AUM). Jim began his investment career with J.P. Morgan Capital, providing equity capital and leveraged loan financing for private equity firms and private companies.  Jim holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a JD from New York University School of Law.  Jim received a BS in Engineering and Political Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point, after which he served as an Aviator in the United States Army.