Biography

Mike Harmon is the Managing Partner of Gaviota Advisors, LLC, in Manhattan Beach, CA, where he advises and invests in small to medium sized companies. Prior to that, he spent 21 years as an investment professional in the Special Situations and Global Principal Groups at Oaktree Capital Management in Los Angeles. There he executed private equity and special situations transactions involving over 50 companies. Prior to that, Mr. Harmon held positions with CS First Boston, Price Waterhouse, and Society Corporation. Over the course of his career, Mr. Harmon has served as a member of the Board of Directors for 20 organizations in a broad range of industries and causes. He currently serves as a Board member for KCRW Radio, a non-profit media organization based in Santa Monica. He also serves as a guest lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Harvard Business School in the areas of private equity, negotiation, and financial restructuring. He holds an M.B.A., with distinction, from Harvard Business School and a B.A., with distinction, in Economics from McGill University.

Education

· MBA with distinction, Harvard Business School, 1997

· BA with distinction, McGill University, 1991

Teaching Experience

· Guest Lecturer, “Private Equity Finance”, Harvard Business School, 2018, 2019

· Guest Lecturer, “Deals”, Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School, 2019, 2020

· Guest Lecturer, “Creating Value in Corporate Restructuring", Harvard Business School, 2019

· Guest Lecturer, “Private Equity and Venture Capital”, Harvard Business School Executive Education, 2019

· Guest Lecturer, “Foundations of Private Equity and Venture Capital", Harvard Business School, 2020

· Guest Lecturer, “Debt Markets”, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2019

Publications

· Harmon, Mike. "A Primer on Restructuring Your Company's Finances" in Harvard Business Review, June 9, 2020. https://hbr.org/2020/06/a-primer-on-restructuring-your-companys-finances.

· Harmon, Mike, and Victoria Ivashina. "When a Pandemic Collides with a Leveraged Economy" submitted to the Federal Reserve, April 16, 2020. https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/covidpt/files/when_a_pandemic_collides_with_a_leveraged_global_economy_20200416_final.pdf.

· Harmon, Mike, and Victoria Ivashina. "Managing the Liquidity Crisis" in Harvard Business Review, April 9, 2020. https://hbr.org/2020/04/managing-the-liquidity-crisis.

· Mugford, Kristin, and Mike Harmon. "Quiksilver, Inc. and Oaktree Capital Management." Harvard Business School Case 219-097, February 2019. https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55854

· Subramanian, Guhan, and Mike Harmon. “Pierre Foods Acquisition of Advance Foods (A-E).” Harvard Business School Case N1-919-022, February 2019.

· Ivashina, Victoria, and Mike Harmon. "Oaktree: Pierre Foods Investment." Harvard Business School Case 219-018, August 2018. https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54848