BOSTON · MUMBAI · SINCE 2004
see who you are.
become it.
Zach Braiker
Founder
Purnima Thakre Braiker
CEO
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Accomplished people are seen for what they have done. Rarely for who they are. Or who they could become.
First, we help you see it.
Clearly, and out loud.
Then we help you become it.
With the right people, fast.
WHO WE SERVE
01
Influence
Visibility that matches the substance. Stages, press, books, boards.
02
Capital
Deal flow, investors, go-to-market. Companies that scale.
03
Meaning
Philanthropy, legacy, the next generation.
We work with people who want influence, who want to build capital, or who want to make meaning. The best want all three.
WHO WE ARE
Two partners.
+ 103 experts on demand.
FOUNDER
Zach Braiker
Partner, growth & narrative: venture, growth equity, and global philanthropy. Boston, SF, Mumbai, Dubai. First three clients at 24: The Guardian, Globo and the Office of Queen Rania of Jordan. Twenty-two years of refine+focus since. Led a World Bank-backed national FDI program for the Kingdom of Jordan. Early research under John Mack, the Pulitzer Prize-winning psychiatrist. Leads Curiouser, 274 members across 20 countries. 8 years on TiE ScaleUp's board. Has mentored 75+ young professionals now at the top of their fields.
CEO
Purnima Thakre Braiker
CEO, refine+focus. Coach to the person, the team, the hard decision. Trained architect, the original design thinker. MBA and Masters in Finance from Hult; Design Thinking at Harvard. Brown-certified in Leadership and Performance Coaching; ACC and ACTC credentialed. Early career at Tata Realty on a $750M fund and at Colliers, where she took a cost-center department to the firm's top revenue earner in under a year. Board of Global Arts Live. Brand Ambassador for BollyX. Works in six languages.
"Kindness & courage … that's how we uncover joy."
"Who before what. I accelerate people and the companies they build, by connecting them across generations."
What we do.
THE METHOD
THREE MOVES
01 · REFINE
See
We listen for hours. We find the story you're too close to tell, and the dream you haven't said out loud.
02 · FOCUS
Become
Complex to clear. One message, one plan, the three things that matter, done fast, not sloppy.
03 · COMPOUND
Scale
The right people around you: firms, writers, investors, stages. Compounding without us in the room.
WHERE WE SPECIALISE
FOUR WE KNOW FROM THE INSIDE
Leaders across industries. Four we know from the inside.
Healthcare
Hospital founders, clinician-investors, health venture funds in the US and India.
Tech startups
Founders from seed to scale-up; TiE's scale-up committee.
Venture & private equity
Fund positioning, LP narrative, portfolio go-to-market.
Global philanthropy
Donors, foundations and family offices giving across borders.
HOW WE SHOW UP
One partner.
The whole bench.
We see what you actually need. Then bring the one super-specialist built for it. Not a commodity associate learning on your account. The exact person, matched to you.
103
"I'm a quarterback with a lot of subject matter expertise … at your side, making sure you're not taken advantage of, that things are done right, that it scales."
ZACH
experts on demand
WHAT YOU GET
FIVE THINGS
01
A clear message
"I can get a message clear and scaled and simplified."
02
Non-traditional growth
Business development at scale. The growth paths the standard playbook misses.
03
An ecosystem
The right firms, writers, producers and 25-year-old talents, hired at the right price.
04
Visibility
Press, podcasts, keynotes, books, boards. Where it matters, not everywhere.
05
Capital
Deal flow and investor introductions from two decades of relationships.
06
The person
Coaching for the leader and the team carrying the plan.
THE FIRST CONVERSATION
THE BIGGEST ASK
"Let's say it's June of 2027 and we've done great things together … What are some things that we would be celebrating?"
"Do you want to be on Oprah? Do you want Warren Buffett to be your best friend? I keep it in my head. Sometimes it happens in three months. Sometimes it happens in 10 years. But I don't forget."
Covered
"Which of them do you have covered?"
Muscle
"Which of them do you need a little bit of muscle, brain muscle?"
Run it
"Which of them do you want me to take off your plate and run?"
BOSTON ↔ MUMBAI
With India.
"You have resources there that are efficient, that are cost-effective, that are outcome oriented … I want to be very mindful of only being additive."
A home in Mumbai. Purnima's Maharashtrian roots and six languages. An India team ready; a London team standing.
The work.
CASE · HEALTHCARE VC · PANKAJ JETHWANI, MD MBA · W HEALTH VENTURES
India's first & only Healthcare Company Creation Fund.
They performed exceptionally but couldn't say why crisply. Months of debates, discussions and 6am Boston calls later, they could. The raise became the #1 story on LinkedIn in all of India.
"It's been therapy, because it has uncovered a lot of stuff that we needed to think about, and we've made a decision and we feel pretty good about the decision."
₹700 cr
25M+
people impacted
39%
irr, first fund
raised
PANKAJ JETHWANI
"Pankaj is so good. Thank you for helping elevate him so he can be seen as good as he is."
WHAT 40 ATTENDEES TOLD ZACH AFTER THE INVESTOR MEETING
CASE · HER MAJESTY QUEEN RANIA OF JORDAN
Counter-narratives, early.
"I had the privilege of collaborating with the press department with Her Majesty to help address and introduce counter-narratives to prevailing misconceptions about Arabs."
ZACH
CASE · GROWTH EQUITY · NEW FUND
From treetop to ground level.
A founder who co-built a multi-billion-dollar enterprise software leader. An investor with 15+ years at a top-tier growth-equity firm. Together, launching a new fund for the B2B companies the big firms miss. Saturday mornings in Boston, finding the story no other fund can tell.
"I need to be effective, not easy."
ZACH
"I'm glad my brain is turning on."
FUND PARTNER
"Every fund, every firm out there says the same damn things … It's just how do you do it that's different is the key."
FUND PARTNER
"You've done it. Everyone says so. You make it look easy. But underneath, you're treading water."
PURNIMA THAKRE BRAIKER, CEO
TRUSTED CLIENTS
RELATIONSHIPS SPANNING DECADES
We work for people, not companies. Relationships spanning decades. Deep, discreet, and effective.
Chris Gaffney
Co-Founder, Great Hill Partners · Private equity · Boston
Foundation President
A billion-dollar-plus global foundation · Investor & philanthropist
Pankaj Jethwani
W Health Ventures · Venture capital · Mumbai & Boston
Zafer Younis
Silicon Valley Venture & Innovation · Dubai & San Francisco
Family Office Principal
One of the great tech-philanthropy families · AI for social good · New York
Greg Segall
Founder & CEO · 5× entrepreneur · Boston
Karen Ansara
Founder & philanthropist · Network of Engaged International Donors
Mothanna Gharaibeh
CEO & former Minister of Investment · Jordan
Peter Dornsife
Viatris & GSK · Pittsburgh
Jon-Andreas Lunde Solberg
PwC & United Nations · Norway
Andrew Slack
Founder, Imagine Better Stories · Movement leader · Philadelphia
Julie Gulick
CEO, Bally Design & Philips Healthworks · Pittsburgh
PART THREE
THE SALON
A ROOM WE BUILT
BY INVITATION
AI is the door; friendship among serious people is the room. Investors, founders, artists, philanthropists, lawyers, academics, students, curated by hand. One book, one hour.
274
participants
14
countries
54
cities
"Humans provide the 'taste' aka the judgement which comes from context."
Pramod · TiE Scaleup
"It's a market fit problem being discussed as an alignment problem."
Naheed · writer
"Where there is Zach there is community, and where there is community there is life."
Cyrus · member
HOW WE WORK
06
5-6
engagements a year
Highly selective. Each one for the long relationship.
+ equity
alongside fees
Skin in the game. We only join opportunities we would invest in ourselves.
10+
years, typical
Many of ours are now in their second decade.
"I'd rather build something worth a hundred million dollars for you and share in the outcome than collect a larger fee."
"I'm much more into a 10-year relationship than I am a one-month relationship."
FIT
34 · FINAL
We say no more than yes.
WE WORK WITH YOU IF
You have clean intent, and ethics you won't trade.
START A CONVERSATION
You're lifting standards.
You want influence, capital and meaning. Ideally all three.
You like to move fast.
refine&focus
Boston · Mumbai · Since 2004