Blackstone Group LP technology banker Ivan Brockman was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., though he's not exactly a New Yorker. About 15 years ago, he headed to California to jump-start his career in finance and found himself quite at home -- and at work -- in the suburbs.

"I never looked back," says 39-year-old Brockman, a senior managing director hired by Blackstone last September to open its Menlo Park, Calif., office. Over the past year, he has built an M&A and corporate advisory team of 10 bankers in Silicon Valley.

The target of billions of private equity and venture capital dollars, the Valley is "the only place in the world" where a sophisticated financial discussion can be held in the suburbs, says Brockman. "People here are every bit as intense as in New York," he argues, "but with an open collar."

Brockman brings that mix of focus and ease to the negotiating table, suggests Thomas Smach, a founding partner of private equity firm Riverwood Capital LLC and former CFO of Flextronics International Ltd., a Nasdaq-listed electronics manufacturing services provider that Brockman advised earlier this year. He's able to simplify complex transactions and articulate them with incredible facility, says Smach, praising him as "one of few bankers" with extensive expertise in both corporate finance and M&A strategy.

His advisory work also borrows from his background as an attorney, allowing him to fluently discuss the "contractual terms of a transaction," says Smach. In fact, it was Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC, based in Palo Alto, Calif., that moved Brockman out West in 1994 to launch a career in finance. Four years later, he moved into banking at Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s Menlo Park office, honing his skills there until 2004. He then worked as Citigroup Inc.'s co-head of West Coast technology in Palo Alto for four years before joining Blackstone.

Growing up in New York and as an undergraduate at Cornell University, Brockman didn't envision a life as a banker. He graduated in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in genetics and biochemistry, planning to make a living in research. But he then went on to earn a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1994, laying the foundation for a career as a financier.

At Blackstone, some of his most recent work has involved assisting Flextronics in its customer relationship with Nortel Networks Corp., a Canadian telecom equipment maker that filed for bankruptcy protection in January. As one of its main suppliers, Flextronics had significant exposure to Nortel. Brockman delicately brought the failed telecom business into negotiations "when, frankly, they didn't have to" to get a restructuring agreement in place. Vendors that are would-be creditors rarely have the ability to "force" a potential debtor to the table, he says. Ultimately, the talks improved terms for Flextronics, helping it obtain a $120 million payment for existing inventory.

Smach, who has known Brockman for about nine years, points to the integrity underlying his long-term approach to building a relationship. He holds the best interest of his clients "without exception," even if it means forgoing a transaction whose related fees would provide a quick paycheck. For that, of course, there is something gained. "He's my most trusted adviser," says Smach, "He'll always get my first phone call."

Most of Brockman's calls over the past year have related to capital structure and strategy as opposed to M&A transactions, which have fallen off in the downturn.

The recession, however, has not been as harsh on Silicon Valley as the broader economy, Brockman contends, saying its innovative role in the long-term technology revolution has created a "perpetual spring of optimism" and opportunity. That said, "only history will tell" whether it was right to open a Menlo Park office in September 2008, when the financial world was on the brink of collapse.

But, certainly, Brockman has every intention of keeping his casual suburban lifestyle in Northern California, where he lives with his wife and three children. Atherton, where he lives, is a short three-mile commute to work and seemingly a world away from the rush on Wall Street.