{"id":42209,"date":"2023-10-20T15:19:32","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/dont-let-the-rich-famous-bozos-drag-you-down-guy-kawasakis-13-top-tips-for-business-success-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:19:32","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:19:32","slug":"dont-let-the-rich-famous-bozos-drag-you-down-guy-kawasakis-13-top-tips-for-business-success-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/dont-let-the-rich-famous-bozos-drag-you-down-guy-kawasakis-13-top-tips-for-business-success-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDon\u2019t let the rich, famous bozos drag you down\u201d: Guy Kawasaki\u2019s 13 top tips for business success – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

As an investor and former \u201cchief evangelist\u201d for Apple, Guy Kawasaki knows a thing or two about what it takes to build a successful company.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Speaking at the Wired for Wonder event in Melbourne last month, Kawasaki said entrepreneurs must focus on getting the nuts and bolts right before trying to build a multi-billion dollar company.<\/p>\n

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Otherwise, entrepreneurs are immediately setting themselves up for failure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here are Kawasaki\u2019s top tips for creating and running a successful business.<\/p>\n

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1. Start with a simple question<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kawasaki said too many entrepreneurs think Steve Jobs set out to create the wealthiest company in the world from day one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cGreat companies start from very simple beginnings and very finite beginnings,\u201d Kawasaki said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThey ask very simple questions. Stop thinking about how you\u2019re going to control the world and create a multi-billion dollar company.\u201d<\/p>\n

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2. Create a valuable viable minimum product<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Everyone has heard of a viable minimum product, according to Kawasaki, however an initial product and service needs to be more than just viable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cSomething can be viable and not valuable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou could do something you can sell for more than the cost of making it, but you will not change the world. You should operate at a higher standard. It should validate your vision.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. Get going<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of Kawasaki\u2019s pet hates is when an entrepreneur says they have a great idea but doesn\u2019t put their plan into action.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAll the focus groups, all the market research is just a waste of time if you truly want to change the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cA focus group at Apple when Steve was there was the fact that Steve\u2019s right and left hemisphere of his brain was connected. That was the focus group.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. Accept that you are going to do something cringe worthy<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYou are going to look back and think oh my god,\u201d Kawasaki said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI am embarrassed by Macintosh 128K. With the first Macintosh\u2026 we were sitting around thinking what are people going to do with all that storage? Five megabytes, my god, we\u2019ve eclipsed the world! I cringe when I look back on that. And yet, it was the start of something magnificent.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can cringe, at least it means you\u2019re still around to cringe,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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5. Find your business soul mate<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kawasaki said in order for a business to succeed, everyone in the team needs to be on the same page \u2013 particularly in the early days.<\/p>\n

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This means finding co-founders with complementary skills and hiring employees who are more talented than you are.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEverybody in the company cannot be good at the same thing,\u201d Kawasaki said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFundamentally in a start-up, there\u2019s only really two functions: somebody has to make it and somebody has to sell it. Everything else is bullshit. That means one of you isn\u2019t looking at the company as a quick-flip part-time lifestyle company and the other person is trying to build something magnificent that goes on forever and creates billions of dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. Ask women about your business model<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cI strongly suggest that you do not ask men about your business model,\u201d Kawasaki said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason is men have a fundamental genetic flaw. Men love to kill stuff. We love to kill plants, we love to kill animals, we like to kill other people. So any time you ask a man about a product or service or business model, a man will say, \u2018Great idea! Let\u2019s kill Google.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWomen do not have this fundamental flaw.\u201d<\/p>\n

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7. Have real milestones<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to not only set achievable goals but ones that actually mean something, according to Kawasaki.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMilestones are the most important thing you can prioritise,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cA milestone is something like finishing the design. A milestone is something where you would call up your spouse and say, honey, today we shipped [our product]. How many of you would call your spouse and say, today we ordered stationary!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8. Tell your story<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cGreat entrepreneurs are great storytellers,\u201d Kawasaki said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou have to tell your story. The problem is everybody says \u2018patent-pending, paradigm-shifting, Nobel Peace Prize winning product or service\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever story you tell, ask yourself \u2013 are your competitors saying something different or opposite? Because if you\u2019re all saying the same thing, then you are the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

9. Hire infectious people<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kawasaki said the worst thing a business can do is hire someone who is qualified but who isn\u2019t passionate about the business.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To get around this trap, he advises entrepreneurs to take a risk and instead hire someone who is \u201cinfectious\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHire people who love what you do,\u201d Kawasaki says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt requires you ignore the irrelevant. One irrelevancy is the person has a lack of a work experience or educational background that makes him or her perfect for your company.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf you see that person loves what you do but never attended MIT\u2026 I suggest you ignore their imperfect background and still hire them. When I was working at Apple, I completely lacked the background for my software evangelist job.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

10. Leverage social media<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is easier to network and get people to like you than ever before, according to Kawasaki.<\/p>\n

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The trick is knowing how to network effectively and get the \u201cinfluencers\u201d to risk their reputation by recommending your product or service.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThank god for social media,\u201d Kawasaki said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSocial media is fast, free and ubiquitous. Now is the best time ever to do self-marketing. When I was Apple\u2019s chief evangelist, the tools I had were an analogue phone, an aeroplane ticket and a fax machine. I didn\u2019t have Instagram, I didn\u2019t have Pinterest, I didn\u2019t have Twitter or Facebook.\u201d<\/p>\n

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11. Focus on sales rather than partnerships<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cSales fixes everything,\u201d Kawasaki says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have sales your pain-in-the-ass investors aren\u2019t going to bother you. Your employees will be happy. It will be easier to recruit and people are going to want to partner with you. As long as you have cash flowing, you\u2019re in the game. The leading cause of death in start-ups is running out of money.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The former Apple evangelist also warned entrepreneurs to avoid partnerships like the plague.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYou should hardly ever use the P word,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cFor cynical people who have been around for a while, when you say the word partnership what you\u2019re saying is we lack sales. And if you say strategic partnership, then you\u2019re really saying we really lack sales and we\u2019re almost running out of money.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

12. Go with the flow<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs don\u2019t set up a target, according to Kawasaki.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Instead, they throw a whole heap of stuff against a wall and see what sticks. Then they draw the target around that and say, \u201cI hit the bullseye!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cJust see where your product ends up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt may end up being used by people in ways you did not intend. And many companies freak out when this happens. A piece of advice if this ever happens to you \u2013 take the money. You may have your idea for exactly what you should do, you put it out there, and reality smacks you on the side of your head.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cDeclare victory. Twitter is successful because no-one started using Twitter to find the best parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

13. Don\u2019t let the clowns grind you down<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kawasaki said Thomas Watson, the former chair of IBM, once said there was a market for just five personal computers in the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With this in mind, entrepreneurs should rely on their gut instinct when it comes to either accepting or ignoring advice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t let the rich, famous bozos drag you down,\u201d Kawasaki said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cImagine if Steve [Jobs] or [Steve] Wozniak met [American entrepreneur] Ken Olsen at a computer show in 1977 and they went up to him and said, \u2018Mr Olsen, we have a different vision for computing. We think computers can be small, cheap and easy to use\u2019. And Mr Olsen, the ideal advisor, mentor and investor for Apple would have said there is no reason why people would want a computer in their house and Apple wouldn\u2019t have happened. This is dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This article was originally published on SmartCompany.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As an investor and former \u201cchief evangelist\u201d for Apple, Guy Kawasaki knows a thing or two about what it takes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42209"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}