Business Startup Tips from Guy Kawasaki

Through Dmitry Davydov's blog, I learned about the great presentation of Guy Kawasaki at TiECon 2006, dedicated to his book “ The Art of the Start ”.

I decided to outline the main points. So, the advice of Guy Kawasaki , a well-known venture investor, aspiring entrepreneur:

1. Do good
2. Write a mantra
3. Get down to business
4. Formulate a business model
5. Do not spray
6. Identify a niche
7. Presentations 10-20-30
8. Hire obsessed people
9. Overcome the market entry barrier
10. Break through the clouds
11. Do not listen to advisers

1. Do good

Do not start a business just for the money. Start happy to change the world. Begin to:

1. Improve the quality of life
2. Fix the wrong
3. Prevent the disappearance of something useful

2. Write a mantra

Express on paper what you and your employees will work for. Not a “mission”, but a mantra. Not a paragraph with a bunch of clever words that no one will ever remember, but 2-3 words. For example:

1. Wendy’s - Healthy Fast Food
2. FedEx - "Peace of Mind"
3. Nike - Genuine Sports Achievement
4. Target - “Democratic Design”

3. Get to work

Just get down to business. Do not segment the market, do not conduct long-term research, do not collect focus groups. Just start and at the same time:

1. Think differently
   Do not just improve or complete something. Do it completely differently.
2. Be ambiguous
   Do not be afraid to have both passionately in love customers and absolutely not understanding you.
3. Find Companions
   Find associates from other areas. If you're a great engineer, find a great marketing friend.

4. Formulate a business model

1. Be unique
2. Keep it simple
3. Consult with a woman

PS The world's shortest marketing plan will be helpful.

5. Do not spray

1. Milestones (milestones)
   Identify key milestones that are critical for the entire project. For example, focus on “complete product development” rather than “purchase office supplies”.
2. Assumptions and estimates
   How many customers can you call per day? How much will buy the product? How many…? Write and check everything.
3. Tasks
   And only after reaching the milestones and checking all the assumptions do routine tasks.

6. Define a niche

A simple chart replaces the thick books on marketing:

Point 1
Lack of uniqueness and huge sales. This is the market of all kinds of "Metro", "Ashanov", "Pyaterochek", etc.

Point 2
The world's only super-unique product, but no one needs it. You are the only idiot in the world that does this.

Point 3
Scanty uniqueness and scanty number of customers. A vivid example is dotcoms: a bunch of indistinguishable clone sites.

Point 4
Unique product / service, with huge demand in the market. There and should strive.

7. Presentations 10-20-30

When presenting your product to investors or clients, follow rule 10-20-30:

1. 10 slides
   Only 10 slides. Not 20, not 30, not 50.
   • Title
   • Problem
   • Decision
   • Business model
   • Magical differences
   • Marketing and sales
   • Competition
   • Team
   • Ratings
   • Current status and plans
2. 20 minutes
   Keep within 20 minutes. Even if an hour has been allocated for a meeting, you can connect to the projector for half an hour.
3. 30 points
   Use a font size of 30 points. This will force you to write only the most important thing on each slide.

8. Hire obsessed people

1. Ignore inconsistency
   Attract people from other industries. Engaged in computers, hire an artist or car dealer.
2. Hire better than yourself
   Do not be afraid to be more stupid than your employees. If you hire all the time a little less knowledgeable, then in a couple of years you will find yourself surrounded by some stupid.
3. Trust the first impression
   Hire those you just liked immediately.

9. Overcome the market entry barrier.

1. Make the product / service as easy to use as possible.
2. Don't make people do things you don’t want to do
3. Find the preachers of your products / services

10. Break through the clouds.

1. Use any results
   Your product is not used the way you want it? Just take money from them.
2. Give them a try
   Probes, test drives, test periods, demo versions ...
3. Find decision makers
   The voice of the secretary or administrator can be much more influential than the voice of the financial director.

11. Do not listen to "advisers"

It can be nothing of a failure, or dear people, who will overwhelm you with heaps of reasons "why you will not succeed." Trust yourself and be decisive.