About Peter

The Economist

Short bio: Peter Sims is a best-selling author and entrepreneur.  His latest book is Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries, which grew out of a collaboration with faculty at Stanford’s Institute of Design (the d.school), a hub of creative thinking and doing, and his previous work in venture capital with Summit Partners, including as part of the team that established Summit’s European Office in London.  He was also the coauthor with Bill George of the best-seller True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership, is a member of G.E.’s Innovation Advisory Panel, and is a Co-founder and Director of Fuse Corps, a social venture that places entrepreneurial leaders on year-long grassroots projects with mayors and governors to tackle some of America’s most pressing problems.  Some of his favorite pursuits include family, friends, music, people, learning, San Francisisco Giants baseball, and laughter.

Longer bio:

Peter Sims is a best-selling author and entrepreneur.  His latest book is Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries, and he was the coauthor with Bill George of True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership, which was a Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek best-seller.

Sims has had a long collaboration with faculty at Stanford’s Institute of Design (the d.school), a hub of creative thinking and doing, and received an M.B.A. from Stanford Business School where he established a popular class.  Previously, he worked in venture capital with Summit Partners, including as part of the team that established Summit’s European Office in London.  He is a member of G.E.’s Innovation Advisory Panel, and is a Co-founder and Director of Fuse Corps, a social venture that places entrepreneurial leaders on year-long grassroots projects with mayors and governors to tackle some of America’s most pressing problems.

His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, Mashable, strategy+business, Tech Crunch, and as an Expert blogger for Fast Company.  He frequently speaks or advises at corporations, associations, and universities, including Google, Eli Lilly, Pixar, ConAgra, Gap Inc., Cisco Systems, Current TV, Amazon, and Stanford University.

A graduate of Bowdoin College, he lives in San Francisco and some of his favorite pursuits include family, friends, music, people, learning, San Francisco Giants baseball, and laughter.  And, his great-great-great grandfather, Jacob Gundlach, founded Gundlach Bundschu (GunBun) in Sonoma, California’s oldest family-owned winery, which is run today by his cousins who, unlike Peter, actually know a lot about wine.

photo by Nicolas Zurcher