Top ten pieces of advice about entrepreneurship from Guy Kawasaki, former chief evangelist for Apple Computer, currently the chief evangelist for Canva, producer of his own Remarkable People podcast, and author of 15 books, including The Art of the Start 2.0, Rules for Revolutionaries, Enchantment, and Wise Guy. Here is a Goodreads list of most of his titles.

Note: I left out plenty of other accomplishments. Hey! I don’t have all day!

Here is the speech…

Here are the first five points…

Granted, this speech took place in 2006, and well, we’re wallowing in 2020, but still, plenty to learn here:

1. The best reason to start a company is to make meaning.

• Increase the quality of life
• Right a wrong
• Prevent the end of something good.

2. Make a mantra for your organization and its employees. A mantra:

• Should answer the question: “Why do you work here?”
• Should answer the question: “Why do you exist?”

A mantra is not a mission statement. If you want one of those, go to the Mission Statement Generator by ComfyChair.

3. Get going.

• Find a few soulmates.
• Don’t be afraid of polarizing people.
• Think different.

4. Define a business model.

• Be specific.

1. Who are my customers?
2. How do I get them to ‘buy’?

• Keep it simple.

• Ask women about your business model. According to Guy, women do not have the male genetic flaw of wanting to ‘kill the competition’. ;->

5. Weave a MAT [Milestones, Assumptions, Tasks]

• Milestones = first day of shipping your product, finishing a product design

• Assumptions = write down and test questions like, “How many sales calls can you make per day?” “What’s the customer ROI?” “How much does it cost to install our product?”

• Tasks = actions that help you reach a ‘Milestone’ = rent an office.