[13] In 1987, he earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University where he was named a Baker Scholar graduating in the top 5% of his class.

[14] In 1987, he accepted a job with the venture capital firm Accel Partners in San Francisco and was mentored by founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz.

[11] Accel Partners was Facebook's biggest shareholder after Mark Zuckerberg, owning an 11% stake at the time of the company's IPO.

[13] In 2000, Breyer also established Accel-KKR, a joint venture between Accel Partners and the private equity firm KKR.

Breyer Capital has participated in a number of investments including Harvard's Experiment Fund,[22] Brightcove,[23] Marvel Entertainment[24] and Legendary Pictures.

[32][33] Since establishing its Austin office, Breyer Capital has backed startups including Sana Benefits, Bestow, ClosedLoop.ai.

[34] Since 2016, Breyer Capital has prioritized investments in opportunities at the intersection of artificial intelligence, healthcare, and life sciences.

[36][37][38] Other healthcare AI companies backed by Breyer Capital include: Atropos Health, SandboxAQ, Iterative Scopes, and Soley Therapeutics.

[39] Breyer and Patrick Joseph McGovern, the Founder and CEO of IDG, have served as co-leads on the Accel-IDG joint venture's strategic investment committee since its inception in 2005.

IDG also announced the participation of Breyer Capital and stated Jim will play a leading strategic advisory role in the new fund.

[58] In the past, Breyer has served on a number of public and private boards, including: Facebook from April, 2005 to June, 2013 where he was a Chairman of the Compensation Committee;[59] Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., as the lead/presiding independent director from 2001 until he resigned in June 2013;[60][61] Marvel Entertainment as founding Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee from 2006 until their acquisition by The Walt Disney Company in 2009;[62][63] News Corporation from 2011 to 2013;[64] Dell Inc., where he was the founding Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee from 2009 until 2013;[65][66] Brightcove, an online video platform which went public in 2012;[67] and Model N as a founding investor and board member.

[11][52][70] Jim Breyer's economic commentary and analysis regarding international market movements and investment trends have been cited in various financial publications, including Fortune, the New York Times and Business Insider.

[89] Breyer was previously married to his college sweetheart and impressionist artist Susan Zaroff, with whom he had three children, Emily, Daniel, and Theodore (Ted).