In the spirit of anti-bozosity that Pam Slim’s posting recently established, here is an interview with Bob Sutton. Bob is a professor of management science and engineering at the Stanford School of Engineering. His latest book, co-authored with Jeffrey Pfeffer, is called Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting From Evidence-Based Management. It’s a [...]
This is an MP3 recording of Jim Whittaker speaking at a Garage event in 2005. Jim is the first American to climb Mount Everest and the former CEO of REI. His topics include leadership, perseverance, and risk taking. Download 05_keynote__a_life_on_the_edge.mp3 Powered by Qumana
Just read this blog entry by Pam Slim. Pam was a consultant to management (as opposed to a management consultant). In this piece, she lets it rip about what she thinks management does wrong. Very entertaining. You’ll love her spirit. It starts off like this: I am writing to you as a newly minted rebel. [...]
A few weeks ago I provided a site where you can see my Art of Innovation speech. My buddy, Mike Johnston, just showed me that my Art of the Start speech is online here. The Art of Innovation is a speech for any stage of company that is trying to create and marketing innovative products [...]
Two blog postings opened my eyes about marketing. The first deals with the new 4Ps by John Sviokla and Antony Paoni called "Marketing Remix." The second is a very useful approach to marketing planning (what a great oxymoron) by Kelly Odell called "The World's Shortest Marketing Plan." With both party's permission, I was "inspired" by [...]
Several people have asked me for a blog entry about executive summaries. My colleague at Garage, Bill Reichert, wrote this explanation, and it's as good as it gets. Writing a Compelling Executive Summary By now, you’ve probably already read several articles, web pages—even books—about writing the perfect executive summary. Most of them offer a wealth [...]
Most of the information that you can find about recruiting is for the employer, not the employee. (I'm as guilty as this as anyone: for example, The Art of Recruiting, I and II.) Let's turn the tables, switch modes, and balance the scales by discussing what a hot candidate should ask a private, venture-backed startup [...]
The French version of The Art of the Start is now available from Diateino: http://snipurl.com/frenchart The translator is Marylène Delbourg-Delphis, someone who I've known for twenty years. She is the only person in the world who could faithfully translate my book because she knows me well and is bi-lingual--a niche sector indeed! Jean-Louis Gassée, general [...]
I've been on both sides of board meetings: as the entrepreneur (a.k.a., the “victim”) and as the board member (a.k.a., the “heavy”). I can't tell you that I've run perfect board meetings nor that I am the world's greatest board member, but I can provide some tips on the art of the board meeting. These [...]
Here's a quiz to determine your “entrepreneurial quotient.” My intent is to test a person's knowledge of entrepreneurship. However, scoring high doesn't mean you're the next Steve Jobs, and scoring low doesn't mean you're not. Some answers are debatable, so there will be many comments. #10, in particular, is tricky so read it very carefully. [...]
Make no mistake about it: There is an art to raising angel capital. Raising angel capital is not harder or easier than raising institutional venture capital—it’s simply different. Here’s how to do it. Make sure they are “accredited” investors. “Accredited” is legalese for “rich enough to never get back a penny.” Just read what the [...]
Check this out: http://electricpulp.com/gbat/ Now you can take the GBAT online. Thanks, Michael Lehmkuhl and Electric Pulp. There is also a German version at: http://www.houseofuser.com/guy_kawasaki_GBAT_german.html Thanks, Stefan Voigt. Can online study courses be far behind? :-) Whether you guys did this on purpose or not, this is a VERY clever way to get me to [...]
I have a theory (as opposed to a dream) that Heaven is a three-class Boeing 777. You can sit in a narrow seat that doesn't recline and eat chicken-like substances next to a screaming baby in coach class. Or, you can sit in a slightly wider seat that reclines slightly more and eat a beef-like [...]
When I went through the security line at San Francisco International Airport this morning, I noticed this laptop with an Apple sticker pasted over its Dell logo (click to enlarge the photo if you don't believe me). I thought this was very funny, so I asked its owner why he did this. He explained that [...]
If my memory isn't failing me, after the Robert Redford character gets elected in The Candidate, he whispers to one of his supporters, “Now what?” Raising money ls like running for office: it's very exciting and even fun if you get the money. But after you raise the money, now what? The good news is [...]
Someone once told me that the probability of an entrepreneur getting venture capital is the same as getting struck by lightning while standing at the bottom of a swimming pool on a sunny day. This may be too optimistic. Let's say that you can't raise money for whatever reason: You're not a “proven” team with [...]
It's been a few years since I wrote the Hindsights speech. During these years, a lot of water has gone under the bridge. I am married to the same woman. I have three kids with a fourth on the way. (My youngest is a girl we adopted from Guatemala, and any day now, we are [...]
In my day job, I not only hear a lot of PowerPoint pitches, but I also read a lot of business plans. The PowerPoint pitches explain my Ménière's disease, but the business plans explain my recent need for reading glasses. One of my goals for blogging is to reduce the external factors that are causing [...]
By popular demand (okay, two people asked me to do it), here are the top ten ways to attract the interest of venture capitalists. There's no guarantee that if you do these ten things that you'll raise millions of dollars, but this wishlist will get you in the game. Before you even start addressing the [...]
