I recently went one-on-one with Jeff Burningham, founder and Chairman of Peak Capital Partners. Jeff is author of the new book The Last Book Written by a Human.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Jeff: My career path has been a bit unorthodox. I am a serial entrepreneur and started my first tech company as an undergrad, which I later sold to a NASDAQ-listed company in my mid-20s. I then saw an opportunity in real estate during the great recession and built a large real estate private equity firm with two beloved partners. Once that had scaled, I returned to my tech roots and started the first institutional venture fund along the Silicon Slopes – funding much of Utah’s fast-growing tech ecosystem. Then I followed the nagging call of my intuition and dove into deeper waters in 2019, running to be Utah’s next Governor. I lost that statewide race during the pandemic. The most critical months of the campaign were March-June of 2020, and as a political outsider running against two well-known politicians, there was no way for me to win amidst that kind of disruption and chaos. It was a very difficult and sobering public defeat that has become a blessing in disguise. Everything began shifting for me after that defeat, and during the summer of 2020, I had nowhere to go but inside. Inside myself. My own mind and heart. This prolonged period of introspection led me to launch a podcast, become an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship to thousands of university students, and write a cosmic book about humanity and AI that has even surprised myself. The Last Book Written by a Human will be distributed by Simon and Schuster in August of 2025. So now, it appears the second half of my career will be spent in a very unexpected way as some interesting combination of author + hippie + spiritual advisor + artist. It’s been fun and I have been very fortunate all along the way, through every up and down.
Adam: In your experience, what are the key steps to growing and scaling your business?
Jeff: As an early-stage VC, I have told thousands of entrepreneurs that finding product-market fit always leads the way. Until you have product-market fit, it is impossible to scale. From there, it is all about product leadership, delighting the customer, and growing a team. The best teams almost always win, so your job is to hire the best people and quickly empower them to be their best. Empowerment looks different for everyone, but a good place to start is understanding that a leader and their team are reflections of each other. Since our outer world is a mirror of our inner one, it is most important for every leader to look inside and focus on personal transformation that will benefit and flow to every member of their team.
Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader?
Jeff: Awareness and kindness. I believe that being aware is the most underemphasized defining quality of an effective leader. Especially in business. When you are truly aware of yourself and of others, you can lead from your heart, do your best work, and inspire those you lead with vision and clarity. This awareness only comes from hard, deep internal work, and since most leaders are almost exclusively focused on the external, it is overlooked or missed, and scary. That is why most leaders shy away from even beginning to approach, let alone tackle and master this.
Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Jeff: Meditate. Look inside. Heal themselves. Do almost the opposite of what most of the leadership jargon that is thrown around and modeled for us in our divided world.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Jeff:
- Enjoy the ride! Learn to have fun all along the way, no matter the outcome. Work to become less attached to outcomes and more attached to the process of transformation for you and your business.
- Lean into your gifts, intuition, and “higher calling” no matter the costs. Accept, embrace, recognize, and love your own unique hero’s journey – we are all on one. And the more fully we lean into that, the better we will become.
- Surround yourself with great people. Never forget it’s always about the people. And your life should be about serving others outside of yourself.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Jeff:
- Build with joy and belief.
- Lead with your heart and soul.
- Manage your team like a sacred calling, because it is. There is nothing more precious than people, and the people you manage need your love and deserve your best!
Adam: What are your best tips on the topics of sales, marketing, and branding?
Jeff:
- Sales – Don’t push, follow the flow.
- Marketing – I don’t know? I don’t seem to be very good at this one.
- Branding – Authenticity is the true power of any brand. Including yours personally.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Jeff: Quit taking yourself so seriously. It’s not about you.
Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Jeff: Appreciate this opportunity and love you all! Also, AI is going to change our human world. We need to bring the best of who and what it means to be human to the development of AI. Then scale that love, awareness and unity into a reformation of our institutions of government, education, religion, and even capitalism in order to ensure more human flourishing, not less. AI will act as a cosmic mirror to humanity; what we see as the reflection should cause more of us to consciously go inside ourselves and change for the better, both individually and collectively.
