Michael A. Brown

Brown credits Fenwick & West's "team-based approach" with introducing him to some of his greatest accomplishments in recent years.

Take Uber Technologies Inc.'s $1.2 billion Series D financing in June 2014, which was not only the biggest investment of the year, but the second-biggest in history.

"Gordy asked me to work with him on that," Brown said, referring to former firm chairman Gordon K. Davidson.

Brown said Davidson's practice has had a significant influence on his own.

"Gordy has the capability to talk about every potential thing that could happen to one of his clients," Brown said. "I realized that was the type of practice I would like to have ... I want to be a strategic advisor to my clients so that whatever stage of life cycle they're at or whatever transaction they're contemplating, I can advise them on the deal."

Brown did just that in 2014, co-leading not only Uber's financing but also the $475 million financing of online lodging service Airbnb Inc. and the initial public offering of biotechnology company Dermira Inc. In addition, Brown led Tanium Inc. in its $90 million Series E financing, Dermira in its $51 million Series C round (prior to the company's IPO), OpenDNS in its $35 million Series C financing, Databricks in its $33 million Series B financing and Doctor on Demand in its $21 million Series A round.

Brown said the Tanium financing was "really interesting." Though the information technology management company was founded in 2007, it hadn't raised a venture capital round since that time.

"I believe it was the second-largest check [Andreessen Horowitz] had written for a venture capital financing," Brown said. "They have a really cool product that they're able as a result of this financing to move to scale much more quickly."

Brown also took a special interest in the Uber financing, as he'd been a "big fan of the service" before getting involved professionally.

"Working with a cutting-edge company like Uber which is really changing the world - it's incredible to be a part of," Brown said.

- Alison Frost