Peter Sims (writer)

Peter Sims
Sims in 2015
Born	(1976-07-29) July 29, 1976
Occupation	Author and entrepreneur
Alma mater	Bowdoin College, Stanford Business School
Genre	Non-fiction
Notable works	True North Little Bets Black Sheep

Peter Eagle Sims (born July 29, 1976) is an American writer, entrepreneur, and investor. Sims is the founder & chairman of BLK SHP (Black Sheep), a platform and creative home for entrepreneurship and investing, as well as a foundation that supports artists.^[1] 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.^[2] Sims has been praised as "one who knows his way around disruptive ideas."^[3]

He has authored three books including True North (2007), co-authored with Bill George, which was among the Wall Street Journal bestseller books.^[4] Others include Little Bets (2011),^[5] which was named one of the best advice books for entrepreneurs by the Wall Street Journal,^[6] and Black Sheep (2024).

As a social entrepreneur, Sims co-founded FUSE corps, a nonprofit fellowship organization that partners with mayors and local governments across the United States to help them solve urgent local challenges, such as homelessness, climate resilience, education and workforce development —supporting over 400 fellowships in 26 states.^[7][8][9] Additionally, Sims was part of the founding team for GivingTuesday,^[10] the philanthropy movement that has become a globally recognized day of giving to charity, and has raised more than $20 billion for nonprofit causes.^{[11][12][13][14][15]}

Sims and Orlando Bloom served as executive producers for the documentary film Earthbound.^[16] 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.^[17][18]

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.^[19] His mother is a photographer and practicing Buddhist who worked closely with Pema Chödrön, the American Buddhist teacher, on several books.^[20]

Sims has a daughter, Riley, who appears in Black Sheep, and for whom he dedicates the book.^[21] He is sixth generation Californian. His 3rd-great grandfather, Jacob Gundlach, founded Gundlach Bundschu Winery in Sonoma in 1858, now the oldest family-owned winery in California.^[22]

• True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership, ISBN 978-0-7879-8751-0, with Bill George, 2007.
• Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries, ISBN 978-0-7879-8751-0, 2011.
• Black Sheep: The Quest to Be Human in an Inhuman Time, ISBN 978-1-939714-25-1, 2024.