Peter J. Burns III: A Dynamic and Enigmatic Entrepreneur
Who is Peter J. Burns III?
Peter J. Burns III is a father, a teacher, a donor, and a serial entrepreneur. With an excellent entrepreneurial skill set, he recognizes business opportunities at their nascence, build them from the just an idea, and can fund almost any initiative with his unparalleled financing techniques stemming from his life-long career. He also has military experience in the U.S Army as an infantry soldier and won an Army 4 Year ROTC scholarship to attend the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce.
Humble Beginnings
They say the most inspiring success stories come from people who dared to step out of their mind and realize their dreams. Well, Peter J. Burns III is one of them, and this might be an understatement. In the fall of 1976 as a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Virginia, having a keen eye for business opportunities, he instantly spotted where the college would be beneficial to him and did something unprecedented and virtually unheard of at the time; take the 4th-year elective course as a freshman. In it, he was given a project which required him to come up with a business plan. He aced the project, actualized his business plan, and made lots of money; $55,000 in 10weeks.
Nantucket Island, as he called it, was his first real business, importing mopeds from Austria, and setting the record as the first in the country to rent to tourists which eventually expanded to hundreds of markets. Speaking of setting records, At 29, Burns’entrepreneurial spirit also made him the youngest entrepreneur ever to be selected for Harvard Business School’s Owners and Presidents Management Program (OPM)
Since then, an entrepreneurial giant was born. Peter J. Burns III started hundreds of businesses, ranging from email marketing firms to international travel ventures, most of which have nothing but tremendous success stories. His entrepreneurial energy did not stop in the United States, but rather spread all across the globe, starting new and exciting businesses and rendering his expertise to other entrepreneurs in a variety of industries, and in countries like Ethiopia. His university roots were not left to chance; Burns founded the first accredited College of Entrepreneurship at the Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.
Recent Achievements
More recently, Peter J. Burns III established an International Travel venture, Avia Travel services. He also founded Club Entrepreneur, an open source entrepreneurship organization to help entrepreneurs grow through access to educational opportunities, professional consultations, workshops, and other beneficial collaborations.
Some Achievements
- Started the first moped rental business in the U.S, which expanded to 100 locations (Nantucket Moped 1977)
- Created “Cybertising”, the first media rich commercial email marketing business
- Invented the “Insert-A-Zine” niche-publishing concept
- Started Club Entrepreneur, the first open source entrepreneurship organization in the U.S, with over 7000 members nationwide and a variety of subsidiaries
- Started the first accredited College of Entrepreneurship in the U.S
- Acted as Entrepreneur-in-Residence for International NGO in Ethiopia
- Established an International Travel venture Avia Travel Services (aviatravelservices.com)
With a plethora of entrepreneurial achievements and experiences across the globe, obviously, Peter J. Burns III long list of achievement would require an entire book to exhaust the list. It is always best when great men speak for themselves, so you can subscribe to his YouTube channel where he gives insight into some of his experiences and tips for fledgling entrepreneurs.
His LinkedIn page would also provide more details on his achievements, as well as his insightful and inspiring regular posts.
Burns has been featured in hundreds of magazine, newspaper articles, and other media sources including the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business News, Entrepreneur Magazine, the Phoenix Business Journal, Nations Business and CNN.
