BIGR Ventures’ Duane Primozich On Why He Doesn’t Consider Himself a Leader

In the debut episode of Born to Lead, we caught up with Duane Primozich, the Co-Founder & Managing Partner at BIGR Ventures, a Boulder, Colo.-based growth equity fund providing value-added, strategic partnership, and capital to promising early-stage products.

Although Primozich doesn’t consider himself to be a leader, he has held multiple management roles throughout his career. Most recently, he’s stepped in as an investor to become CEO of one of the companies within his portfolio — a role made more complex and challenging in a global pandemic.

We caught up with him to discuss how he’s leading both his investment company and one of his portfolio brands as a CEO; who he admires most as a leader; and how he’s adapted to leading through COVID-19. And he answers the question, ‘Are some people just born to lead?’

Check out some highlights below:

On Building Trust As a Leader
“One doesn’t simply establish trust and move on. It’s a continuum. You’re always either building trust or trust is eroding every single day, and I try to bring that intention to my work every day.”

On Coaching
“I’m often in a position of coaching folks up within our portfolio companies, but I like to say that I learn as much as I teach in the board environment. And that’s certainly true from a leadership perspective.”

On How to Lead
“I try to empower people to do the best work they can and give them the tools to do so.”

Watch the full episode here.