Blake Jackson

Welcome! I am a finance Ph.D. student at the University of Florida.

My research focuses on private equity, venture capital, and entrepreneurship.

My advisors are Andy Naranjo (U. Florida), Jay R. Ritter (U. Florida), and Ilya A. Strebulaev (Stanford GSB).

My research has been featured in The Economist and Financial Times. I was a visiting student at Stanford GSB in Fall 2023 and 2024. I was the TA for the 2024 NBER Entrepreneurship bootcamp and I co-organize the WEFI Student-Led Workshop.

Info: Curriculum Vitae | blake.jackson@warrington.ufl.edu | Google Scholar | SSRN | LinkedIn

Job Market Paper

How do Barbarians Get to the Gates? Private Equity Careers, Styles, and Returns [SSRN (pdf)]

Awarded: 2025 Private Equity Research Consortium Best Paper Award | 2026 SFS Cavalcade Ph.D. Student Grant
Conferences: SFS Cavalcade (2026) | FIRS (2026) | UNC-Chapel Hill Private Equity Research Consortium Symposium (2025) | 21st Annual Olin Finance Conference at Washington University in St. Louis (PhD Poster; 2025) | WEFI Fellows Conference at Columbia Business School (2025) | IPC Research Workshop (2026) | Columbia Private Equity Research Conference (PhD Workshop; 2026) | Empirical Management Conference (Stanford; 2026)
Seminars: Northwestern Kellogg (2026) | University of Chicago Booth (2026) | Stanford Graduate School of Business (2026) | Harvard Business School (2026) | The Ohio State University Fisher (2026) | London Business School (2026) | University of Wisconsin-Madison (2026) | Indiana University Kelley (2026) | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Gies (2026) | University of Virginia Darden (2026) | Boston College Carroll (2026) | Tulane University (2026) | Florida State Board of Administration (2026) | University of Missouri Trulaske (2025) | University of South Carolina Darla Moore (2025) | University of Florida Warrington (2025)

Working Papers

(* By coauthor, includes scheduled)

Selling Private Equity Fees [SSRN (pdf)]

With: Minmo Gahng
Awarded: 2022 Private Equity Research Consortium Best Paper Award
Media Coverage: Coller Capital Private Equity Findings | Private Equity International
Conferences: Western Finance Association (WFA) (2024) | USC (Darla Moore) Fixed Income and Financial Institutions Conference* (2024) | Institute for Private Capital Spring Symposium* (2024) | University of Florida Presidents Day Weekend Conference (2024) | London Business School Private Capital Symposium* (2023) | University of Michigan Mitsui Finance Symposium (2023) | UNC-Chapel Hill Private Equity Research Consortium Symposium* (2022)
Seminars: UBC Sauder School of Business* (2024) | SUNY Binghamton* (2024) | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission* (2024) | University of Florida Warrington (2024)

Political Pressures, Catering, and Return Distortions in Private Equity [SSRN (pdf)]

With: David Ling and Andy Naranjo
Media Coverage: Financial Times | The Economist | Institutional Investor
Conferences: SFS Cavalcade (2023) | ASSA Annual Conference (2024) | Pre-WFA Summer Real Estate Research Symposium (2023) | Institute for Private Capital Spring Symposium (2023) | AREUA Virtual Seminar Series (2023)
Seminars: University of Florida Warrington (2023)

Work in Progress

Human Capital in Venture Capital: Evidence from 100,000 Venture Capitalists

With: Ilya A. Strebulaev
Media Coverage: Poets & Quants | PitchBook
Conferences: London Business School Private Capital Symposium* (2025)
Seminars: Harvard Business School* (2025)