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Peter Sims (writer)

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Peter SIms
Sims in 2015
Sims in 2015
Born (1976-07-29) July 29, 1976 (age 47)
OccupationAuthor and entrepreneur
Alma materBowdoin College, Stanford Business School
GenreNon-fiction
Notable worksTrue North

Little Bets

Black Sheep
Website
www.petersims.com

Peter Eagle Sims is an American writer, entrepreneur, and investor. He authored three books including True North (2007), co-authored with Bill George, which was among the Wall Street Journal bestseller books.[1] Others include Little Bets (2011)[2] and Black Sheep (2024).[3] Sims has been praised as "one who knows his way around disruptive ideas."[4]

Sims is the Founder & Chairman of BLK SHP (Black Sheep), a place and platform for small bets and investing. Previously, he worked as an investor at Summit Partners in London where he co-founded the firm's European office. He has also been an advisor at Google[x], The Moonshot Factory, Alphabet's semi-secret innovation laboratory.[5]

Additionally, Sims was part of the founding team for GivingTuesday[6], the philanthropy movement that has become a globally recognized day of giving to charity.[7] GivingTuesday is the first Tuesday after the United States' Thanksgiving, and has raised more than $13 billion for nonprofit causes to date.[8][9][10]

Investing[edit]

In 2024, Sims' company established an investment arm called BLK SHP Ventures.[11][12] Founding partners included J. Taylor Crandall, a founder of Oakhill Capital,[13] Pixar co-founder and long-time President Ed Catmull, and former Autodesk CEO Carl Bass. The inspiration for "black sheep" came from Pixar, a phrase used by Director Brad Bird for "restless contributors with unconventional ideas."[14] Sims, Catmull, and Bass worked together as advisors at Google[x].[15]

Life[edit]

Sims is a graduate of Bowdoin College and Stanford Business School. He grew up in the rural foothills of Northern California, where his father was a county judge, and he attended Colfax High School.[16] His mother was a photographer and practicing Buddhist who worked closely with Pema Chödrön, the American Buddhist teacher, on several books.[17] Sims' parents were in the same first and second grade class together in Marin County, California, and later met again as adults through a mutual friend Maureen Orth, the American journalist. Orth later married Tim Russert, the American television journalist, who became an important influence in Sims' life, which he wrote about in Little Bets.[18]

Sims has a daughter, Riley, who appears in Black Sheep, and for whom he dedicates the book.[19]

He is sixth generation Californian. In 1858, his 3rd-great grandfather, Jacob Gundlach, founded Gundlach Bundschu Winery in Sonoma, now the oldest family-owned winery in California.[20]

Film[edit]

Sims and Orlando Bloom served as executive producers for the documentary film Earthbound.[21] Directed by Farhoud Meybodi, the film explores the life of Nzambi Matee, a Kenyan innovator and entrepreneur who is tackling the plastic waste epidemic in her hometown of Nairobi. The film won numerous awards, including a 2023 Tribeca X Award in the feature film category.[22][23]

Works[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership — Book — Faculty & Research — Harvard Business School". www.hbs.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  2. ^ Sims, Peter (2011-08-06). "Daring to Stumble on the Road to Discovery". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  3. ^ Haislip, Barbara. "Entrepreneurs talk about the self-help books that actually helped them". WSJ. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  4. ^ Buchanan, Leigh (May 3, 2011). "Book Review: Little Bets". Inc. Magazine.
  5. ^ "Peter Sims". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  6. ^ Epstein, David (2024-05-28). "Pitching Collective Purpose". Range Widely. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  7. ^ Piper, Kelsey (2020-11-30). "Giving Tuesday, explained". Vox. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  8. ^ Lerner, Jamie (2022-11-29). "The Unequivocal History of Why We Donate on #GivingTuesday". Distractify. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  9. ^ "Why GivingTuesday is the Social Innovation Idea of the Year | Management Innovation eXchange". www.managementexchange.com. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  10. ^ GivingTuesday (2023-11-30). "$3.1 Billion in Giving & Millions United Around Generosity to Celebrate GivingTuesday 2023". GivingTuesday. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  11. ^ "blk shp ventures". BLK SHP. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  12. ^ "Disrupt Yourself Podcast with Whitney Johnson: 363 Peter Sims: A Practical Guide To Sparking Your Humanity "In An Inhuman Time" on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  13. ^ Solomont, E.B. "Bay Area Estate Asks $16 Million More Than Its 2020 Sale Price". WSJ. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  14. ^ "Innovation lessons from Pixar: An interview with Oscar-winning director Brad Bird | McKinsey". www.mckinsey.com. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  15. ^ Bush, Isaac (2024-03-12). "Beyond the doomscrolling – movement building for positive change". Rita McGrath. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  16. ^ "Colfax High announces 2019 Hall of Fame inductees". goldcountrymedia.com. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  17. ^ "Black Sheep: The Quest To Be Human In An Inhuman Time Peter Eagle Sims - Google Search". www.google.com. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  18. ^ Sims, Peter (2012). Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries. Random House Business. ISBN 978-1-84794-049-0.
  19. ^ Sims, Peter (2024-05-07). Black Sheep: The Quest To Be Human In An Inhuman Time. Tom Rath. ISBN 978-1-939714-27-5.
  20. ^ DOYLE, SARAH (2023-03-01). "Sonoma winery launches wine brand geared toward 20-somethings". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  21. ^ "Peter Sims | Producer". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
  22. ^ "Tribeca X 2023 Official Selections". Tribeca. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
  23. ^ "Farhoud Meybodi - Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
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