Top quotes by Guy Kawasaki

An MBA is a great degree for career paths like investment banking, finance, consulting, and large companies. An MBA is not necessarily the right path for starting a tech company. You should be building a prototype, not getting an MBA in that case. Votes: 15

Don't worry, be crappy. Revolutionary means you ship and then test... Lots of things made the first Mac in 1984 a piece of crap - but it was a revolutionary piece of crap. Votes: 15

Most venture capitalists won't read a business plan unless the entrepreneur is introduced to them by a contact. Votes: 14

Great companies start because the founders want to change the world... not make a fast buck. Votes: 14

It's easy to say that entrepreneurs will create jobs and big companies will create unemployment, but this is simplistic. The real question is who will innovate. Votes: 12

I merely consider myself a father, and one role of a father is to provide financial resources for his family. Votes: 12

I travel all the time. Votes: 10

If you want to make a good first impression, smile at people. What does it cost to smile? Nothing. What does it cost not to smile? Everything, if not smiling prevents you from enchanting people. Votes: 10

The jewelry business is a very, very tough business - tougher than the computer business. You truly have to understand how to take care of your customers. Votes: 9

The A-listers and the A+ listers, are reporting the news, they're not making it. Votes: 9

Good people hire people better than themselves. So A players hire A+ players. But others hire below their skills to make themselves look good. So B players hire C players. C players hire D players, etc. Votes: 9

A 50-year-old company can innovate as well as two guys/gals in a garage. Votes: 9

My books are always tactical, bullet lists, this is what you need to do because I'm trying to appeal to people who are trying to change the world and they need checklists. Votes: 9

Coming from the U.S., you tend to look at one homogeneous market with 350 million people. But in Europe, every country has its own customs and laws. Votes: 8

Smart, well-meaning people get it wrong when they start believing that the world owes them something and that the rules are different for them. Votes: 8

Frequently, crashes are followed with a message like 'ID 02'. 'ID' is an abbreviation for idiosyncrasy and the number that follows indicates how many more months of testing the product should have had. Votes: 8

If achieving success were easy, more people would do it. Votes: 8

Pursuing your passions makes you more interesting, and interesting people are enchanting. Votes: 8

If you don't toot your own horn, don't complain that there's no music. Votes: 7

Steve Jobs has a saying that A players hire A players; B players hire Cplayers; and C players hire D players. It doesn't take long to get to Zplayers. This trickle-down effect causes bozo explosions in companies. Votes: 7

I'm a lousy predictor of the future. Votes: 6

Unfortunately, they develop a fixed mindset that they're the most talented, and they think that continued success is a right. Problems arise because pure talent only works as long as the going is easy. Furthermore, they don't take risks because failure would harm their image of being the best, brightest, and most talented. When they do fail, they deny it or attribute it to anything but their shortcomings. Votes: 5

A crash is when your competitor's program dies. When your program dies, it is an 'idiosyncrasy'. Votes: 5

Not many people agree with what I do. Votes: 4

I have developed a Zen-like approach to the operating systems that people use: 'When you're ready, the right operating system will appear in your life.' Votes: 4

Crowdsourcing is a great way to approach creation because in any given point there's always somebody on the Internet who knows something better than you do. Votes: 4

Simple and to the point is always the best way to get your point across. Votes: 3

Just be nice, take genuine interest in the people you meet, and keep in touch with people you like. This will create a group of people who are invested in helping you because they know you and appreciate you. Votes: 3

It's just as valuable to curate content as it is to create it. Votes: 3

If you have to put someone on a pedestal, put teachers. They are society's heroes. Votes: 2

Enchantment is the purest form of sales Votes: 0

Entitlement is the opposite of enchantment. Votes: 0

Enchantment is the purest form of sales. Enchantment is all about changing people's hearts, minds and actions because you provide them a vision or a way to do things better. The difference between enchantment and simple sales is that with enchantment you have the other person's best interests at heart, too. Votes: 0

Knowledge is great. Competence is great. But the combination of both encourages people to trust you and increases your powers of enchantment. And in this world, the combination is a breath of fresh air. Votes: 0

The desire to change the world is a tremendous advantage as you travel down the difficult path ahead because focusing on a lofty goal is more energizing and attracts more talent than simply making a buck. Votes: 0

Evangelism is selling a dream. Votes: 0

In giving presentations, use the 10/20/30 rule....use only 10 slides, take 20 minutes maximum, and use at least 30-point fonts. Votes: 0

The hardest thing about getting started, is getting started. Votes: 0

The mark of a good conversationalist is not that you can talk a lot. The mark is that you can get others to talk a lot. Thus, good schmoozer's are good listeners, not good talkers. Votes: 0

Patience is the art of concealing your impatience. Votes: 0

I do have a peripatetic and active intellectual curiosity. Votes: 0

The higher you go in a company, the less oxygen there is, so supporting intelligent life becomes difficult. Votes: 0

You know, if you're Guy Kawasaki and you create a car that gets 500 miles a gallon with zero emissions, people on the Internet would say: 'I could have done that in half an hour, and it's been done before. What's the big deal? I expected something more from him.' Meanwhile, they didn't do it, right? They're still living at home with their mothers. Votes: 0

Entrepreneur is not a job title. It is a state of mind of people who want to alter the future. Votes: 0

Klout and various measurements of influence are fun. I love to see where I score on them, but there's a computer algorithm behind the calculation. If there's an algorithm, it can be gamed. Even if it's not gameable, you have to take a leap of faith that the number of followers, retweets, mentions, whatever really mean something. Votes: 0

I have four kids in a private school who have not yet entered college. Their tuition is what keeps me motivated. Life is simple sometimes. Votes: 0

Facebook is for people, Twitter is for perspective, Google+ is for passion, LinkedIn is for pimping Votes: 0

The world is a big place. There are lots of smart people in it. Entrepreneurs are kidding themselves if they think they have any kind of monopoly on knowledge. And, sure as I'm a Macintosh user, on the same day that an entrepreneur tells this lie, the venture capitalist will have met with another company that's doing the same thing. Votes: 0

Jolt is for Windows programmers. It's typical IBM PC: it goes in brown and comes out yellow. Mountain Dew is for Macintosh programmers: it goes in yellow and comes out yellow. It's WYSIWYP. Votes: 0

I have developed a Zen-like approach to the operating systems that people use: 'When you're ready, the right operating system will appear in your life. Votes: 0

At the end of the day in business, it's not about peer review and getting into a scientific journal. You either increase sales, or not. Votes: 0

Social media allows me to pick my times for social interaction. Votes: 0

Do you know what the difference is between PR and advertising? Advertising is when you say how great you are. PR is when other people say how great you are. PR is better. Votes: 0

Someone once said that death is God's way of telling you to slow down. I do enjoy what I do, and the secret of my success is the willingness to grind work out. Votes: 0

The companies that are successful, they start out to make meaning, not to make money. Votes: 0

Second, you need to spread the large amount of information knowledge that you've gained-pooping like an elephant. This means sharing information and discoveries with your fellow employees and occasionally even with your competitors. Votes: 0

For startups, SM is now crucial: it has never been cheaper and easier to reach one's customers. Entrepreneurs should thank God for Twitter, Facebook... Votes: 0

Think different in order to change the rules. By definition, if you don't change the rules you aren't a revolutionary, and if you don't think different, you won't change the rules. Votes: 0

You need to save some mental, physical, and emotional resources for enhancing your product after you ship. A revolution is a triathlon, not a hundred-yard dash-it requires long distance stamina and multiple skills such as creating, churning, and evangelizing. Votes: 0

Twitter, Facebook, Google + are the trifecta of marketing for authors (and bloggers). Votes: 0

I don't want to make more friends. I have four kids, I have plenty of friends, and all the personal relationships I need. Votes: 0

The two most important things about people on a revolutionary team are their ability and passion. Their educational level or work experience is meaningless--most of the engineers who did ground-breaking work of the Macintosh design didn't even graduate from college. Votes: 0

If you truly don't have competition, then zoom out until you can define some. Competition can be as simple as the reliance on the status quo, Microsoft (since at some point Microsoft will compete with everyone for everything), or researchers in universities. Pick something, because saying you have no competition at all is a nonstarter. Votes: 0

It doesn't matter whether the Dow is 5000 or 50,000. If you're an entrepreneur, there is no bad time to start a company. Votes: 0

A good idea is about ten percent and implementation and hard work, and luck is 90 percent. Votes: 0

What you learn in school is the opposite of what happens in the real world. In school, you're always worried about minimums. You have to reach 20 pages or you have to have so many slides or whatever. Then you get out in the real world and you think, 'I have to have a minimum of 20 pages and 50 slides.' Votes: 0

At the end of my life, is it better to say that I empowered people to make great stuff, or that I died with a net worth of $10 billion? Obviously I'm picking the former, although I would not mind both. Votes: 0

What I lack in talent, I compensate with my willingness to grind it out. That's the secret of my life. Votes: 0

Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Votes: 0

When I finally got a management position, I found out how hard it is to lead and manage people. Votes: 0

Leverage your brand. You shouldn't let two guys in a garage eat your shorts. Votes: 0

I think that no one, or very few, are born as good presenters. It's a skill that you learn. Votes: 0

"(Big name research firm) says our market will be $50 billion in 2010." Every entrepreneur has a few slides about how the market potential for his segment is tens of billions. It doesn't matter if the product is bar mitzah planning software or 802.11 chip sets. Venture capitalists don't believe this type of forecast because it's the fifth one of this magnitude that they've heard that day. Entrepreneurs would do themselves a favor by simply removing any reference to market size estimates from consulting firms. Votes: 0

"No one is doing what we're doing." This is a bummer of a lie because there are only two logical conclusions. First, no one else is doing this because there is no market for it. Second, the entrepreneur is so clueless that he can't even use Google to figure out he has competition. Suffice it to say that the lack of a market and cluelessness is not conducive to securing an investment. As a rule of thumb, if you have a good idea, five companies are going the same thing. If you have a great idea, fifteen companies are doing the same thing. Votes: 0

"Patents make our product defensible." The optimal number of times to use the P word in a presentation is one. Just once, say, "We have filed patents for what we are doing." Done. The second time you say it, venture capitalists begin to suspect that you are depending too much on patents for defensibility. The third time you say it, you are holding a sign above your head that says, "I am clueless." Votes: 0

A magnificent cause can overcome a prickly personality, but your ability to enchant people increases if they like you, so you should aspire to both. You'll know that you're likeable when you can communicate freely, casually, and comfortably with people. Votes: 0

A successful self-publisher must fill three roles: Author, Publisher, and Entrepreneur"”or APE. Votes: 0

"¢ People deserve a break. The stressed and unorganized person who doesn't have the same priorities as you may be dealing with an autistic child, abusive spouse, fading parents, or cancer. Don't judge people until you've walked a mile in their shoes. Give them a break instead. Votes: 0

Accept diversity and don't take any crap. Votes: 0

Ambitious failure, magnificent failure, is a very good thing, Votes: 0

An editor who is a mentor, advisor, and psychiatrist. Don't kid yourself-a good editor will make your book better. Votes: 0

And this is the beginning of the end. Votes: 0

Arguably, in business books, I don't think there's much that has never been said before. Votes: 0

Better to fail at doing the right thing than to succeed at doing the wrong thing. Votes: 0

'Branding' has taken on too much of a role as a specialized craft performed by voodoo artists. Votes: 0

Companies can add value and simultaneously promote themselves if their product or service truly improves the lives of their customers. I mean really improve lives, not wishful thinking, rationalization. That's the acid test. Votes: 0

Companies in Europe should stop trying to do the U.S. version of a European idea. Votes: 0

Companies should always want to delight their customers. Votes: 0

Create something, sell it, make it better, sell it some more and then create something that obsoletes what you used to make. Votes: 0

Customers can tell you how to evolve a product, but they can't show you how to make a leap. Votes: 0

Defy the crowd. The crowd isn't always wise. It can also lead you down a path of silliness, sub-optimal choices, and downright destruction. Enchantment is as necessary for people to diverge from a crowd as it is to get people to join one. Votes: 0

Disorganizatio n is the enemy of good writing. Votes: 0

Do not write to impress others. Authors who write to impress people have difficulty remaining true to themselves. A better path is to write what pleases you and pray that there are others like you. Your first and most important reader is you. If you write a book that pleases you, at least you know one person will like it. Votes: 0

Don't be discouraged by the size of your network "“ inspire one person and you are doing good. Votes: 0

Don't ask people to do something you wouldn't. Votes: 0

Eat like a bird, poop like an elephant Votes: 0

Enchantment can be done with writing but I think enchantment is basically a prospective or an operating system for life. That you can enchant a person who is assigning your airplane seat, your hotel room, your waiter, your waitress. Votes: 0

Every person has the ability to improve the life of someone else. Votes: 0

Everyone is passionate about something. It's your job to find out what it is. Votes: 0

Everything you want is cheap or free. If you went to a venture capitalist and said: "I need money to buy tools." You flunked the IQ test, I mean every tool that you need is free! Votes: 0

For me writing is as close to being an engineer as possible. Votes: 0

For me, while writing I am an engineer, so if I decide to change the format, I want to add a section, to move a section, reorganize the section, anything I want to do, I just boot words, and I do what I want to do. So, I feel completely empowered when I'm a writer. Votes: 0

Go APE: Author a great book, Publish it quickly, and Entrepreneur your way to success. Self-publishing isn't easy, but it's fun and sometimes even lucrative. Plus, your book could change the world. Votes: 0

Good blurbs are short, sweet, and limited to six. They answer the question "Why should I buy this book? Votes: 0

Great leaders are paradoxical. They catalyze, rather control, the work of their teams. They have an overarching vision for the team but are not autocratic in the realization of this vision. Their eyes are open to whatever results occur-not just planned goals, because serendipity is a great innovator. Votes: 0

Great teams are usually small-under fifty in total head count. (There are few examples of a team made up of hundreds of people who created anything revolutionary.) Big teams aren't conducive to revolutionary products because such products require a high degree of single-mindedness, unity, and unreasonable passion. Votes: 0

Greatness is won, not awarded. Votes: 0

Happiness is temporary and fleeting. ... Joy is the right goal. Votes: 0

Here's what you should say [to an investor]: 'this is what my company does' It's that simple. What you're trying to do is get potential investors to fantasize about how your product or service will make a boatload of money. They can't fantasize if they don't know what you do. Votes: 0

High achievers tend to have major weaknesses. People without major weaknesses tend to be mediocre. Votes: 0

Hockey is the only thing that I'm not good at that I love. Votes: 0

How fast you are moving is more important than where you are. Votes: 0

I don't "need" the rush to be happy. I'd be perfectly happy without the attention and action. Votes: 0

I learned how difficult it is to self-publish a book. It's complex, it's confusing, it's idiosyncratic. Votes: 0

I want to know which idea you're going to kill yourself trying to make successful, not which ideas have crossed your idle mind. Votes: 0

I would consider...Google Plus a push technology. It's closer to Twitter than to Facebook. Votes: 0

If you have more money than brains, you should focus on outbound marketing, If you have more brains than money, you should focus on inbound marketing. Votes: 0

If you just enchanted one person per day, you would make a big dent in the universe. Votes: 0

If you look at my Twitter feed it is 99% links, but 1% is me responding and 1% of a big number is a big number. Votes: 0

If you make meaning, you'll make money. Votes: 0

If you make money, you might not make meaning. Votes: 0

If you start out to solely make money, you will attract the wrong kind of employees. Votes: 0

If you use social media right, you will piss people off. It's actually recommended! Votes: 0

If you're an entrepreneur and you think that the president makes a difference to your business, you should stay at your current job. Votes: 0

If you're in enough places at enough times, then some of them are bound to be the right ones. Votes: 0

Inoculate yourself from dangerous bozos. Votes: 0

Instant success are seldom instant and if you talk to the people behind these successes, you'll find out that they came after months of fear, uncertainty and confusion along with a flagrant lack of adoption. Votes: 0

It's a very valuable skill to succeed in life whether you work for a startup or a Fortune 500 company. Votes: 0

It's hard to build community around mediocre and mundane writing. Votes: 0

I've always wanted to be a professional golfer. So what if you always wanted to be an entrepreneur? Votes: 0

Let yourself be enchanted in small ways. Votes: 0

Let's say a startup is hot. It ships something great, and it achieves success. Thus, it's able to attract the best, brightest, and most talented. These people have been told they're the best since childhood. Indeed, being hired by the hot company is "proof" that they are the A and A+ players; in fact, the company is so hot that it can out-recruit Google and Microsoft. Votes: 0

Look back to the old days: people bought an MS DOS machine and struggled with it for weeks to bring it up to speed. Then Apple created Macintosh, struggled a bit with it, but eventually succeeded. Then it went into other businesses. If your company truly wants to change the world, it would make these problems go away for customers. Votes: 0

Looking back on my own career, I've come to the conclusion that too much money is worse than too little. Votes: 0

Luck favors the people who are willing to grind it out. Votes: 0

Money is not the sole or most powerful motivation for many people. A higher and tougher test is to look back and see how you've made the world a better place. Votes: 0

My real mantra for my life is "empower others". Votes: 0

My recommendation for SEO is very simple. It's Write Good Stuff. In my mind, Google is in the business of finding good stuff. It has thousands of the smartest people in the world, spending billions of dollars to find the good stuff. All you have to do is write the good stuff; you don't need to trick it. Let Google do its job and you do your job. Votes: 0

My theory is that when you're young, you should work eighty hours a week to create a product or service that changes the world. Votes: 0

One must understand what people are thinking, feeling and believing in order to enchant them. Votes: 0

Organizations are successful because of good implementation,not good business plans. Votes: 0

Original visions are often wrong. Companies have to morph as they learn what customers don't want. Votes: 0

People are free or cheap. Marketing: using Twitter or blogs. Cheap or free. Infrastructure: call up Amazon, call up Rackspace, terabytes of data in the clouds, thousand dollars, two thousand dollars. Votes: 0

People who earn the label "creative" are really just people who come up with more combinations of ideas, find interesting ones faster, and are willing to try them out. The problem is that most schools and organizations train us out of those habits. Votes: 0

Provide good content and you'll earn the right to promote your product. Votes: 0

Pursue joy, not happiness. This is probably the hardest lesson of all to learn. It probably seems to you that the goal in life is to be happy. Oh, you maybe have to sacrifice and study and work hard, but, by and large, happiness should be predictable. Votes: 0

Remember that nobodies are the new somebodies. Votes: 0

Revolutionary leaders have to care more about what they think of themselves than what the world thinks of them. Votes: 0

Revolutionary products don't fail because they are shipped too early. They fail because they aren't revised fast enough. Votes: 0

Sales fixes everything. Votes: 0

Skillful pitching... is a necessary, but not sufficient, part of raising capital. More important are the realities of your organization: Are you building something meaningful, long lasting, and valuable to society? Votes: 0

Social media puts reciprocity on steroids because now you can reach more people in more ways to do more things for them faster and at lower expense. Positive word about your reciprocity can spread faster than ever. Votes: 0

Some things need to be believed to be seen. Votes: 0

Steve [Jobs] proves that it's OK to be an asshole... He just has a different OS. Votes: 0

Take my word for it: More people will like you if you believe that people are good until proven bad. Votes: 0

The angels started singing, the clouds parted, it was a religious experience. I've never had the same reaction to a product, not in 25 years. Votes: 0

The beauty of Goodreads is that you know you're sowing in a field where everyone, by definition and self-selection, loves to read. Votes: 0

The best reason to start an organization is to make meaning; to create a product or service to make the world a better place. Votes: 0

The essence of evangelism is to passionately show people how you can make history together. Votes: 0

The first 90 percent of a revolution is creating the product or service; the second 90 percent is evangelizing it. At the beginning of a revolution, you need evangelists, not sales, because leverage spreads news. Votes: 0

The first good reason to write a book is to add value to people's lives. Votes: 0

The Future belongs to those who can spread ideas. Votes: 0

The goal is to provide inspiring information that moves people to action. Votes: 0

The hard part is implementing the decision, not making it. Votes: 0

The key to evangelism is a great product. It is easy, almost unavoidable, to catalyze evangelism for a great product. It is hard, almost impossible, to catalyze evangelism for crap. Votes: 0

The more popular a person thinks he is in the blogosphere, the thinner his skin and the thicker his hypocrisy. This should be exactly the opposite: the higher you go the thicker the skin and thinner the hypocrisy. Votes: 0

The most powerful sign is that your work no longer enchants you - it's not deep, delightful, and mutually satisfying. When this happens, it may be time to look for new challenges. Votes: 0

The real question is who will innovate. Votes: 0

The record of what you do is forever recoverable because of Google. The lofty upside and scary downside makes reciprocity more important than ever. This is all good because it makes people think more before they do something that reduces their trustworthiness. Votes: 0

The root of great companies is make meaning vs. make money. Votes: 0

The secret of evangelism is Guy's golden touch - whatever is gold, Guy touches. That's very different than saying whatever Guy touches turns gold. Votes: 0

The self-edited author is as foolish as the self-medicated patient. Votes: 0

The telephone operator has one of the biggest roles in creating your organization's image....indeed, many people may come into contact with no one except your operator. Votes: 0

There are two types of people on social media: people who want more followers, and liars. Votes: 0

There is only one Steve Jobs, but if you want a shot at being the next Steve Jobs, learn to communicate using stories, demos, and pictures. Votes: 0

There was no "decision" per se to re-position myself. I simply decided that I wanted to write a book that would help people influence others. Votes: 0

This is the beauty of social media: it helps you find people and then you can contact them fast and inexpensively. Votes: 0

To say that Windows 95 is just like the Mac is like finding a potato in the shape of Jesus and thinking you have witnessed the second coming Votes: 0

Try stuff. I also used to believe that it's better to be smart than lucky because if you're smart you can out-think the competition. I don't believe that anymore-this is not to say that you should strive for a high level of stupidity. My point is that luck is a big part of many successes, so (a) don't get too bummed out when you see a bozo succeed; and (b) luck favors the people who try stuff, not simply think and analyze. As the Chinese say, "One must wait for a long time with your mouth open before a Peking duck flies in your mouth." Votes: 0

Want to change the world? Upset the status quo? This takes more than run-of-the-mill relationships. You need to make people dream the same dream that you do. Votes: 0

What I lack in talent, I compensate with my willingness to grind it out, Votes: 0

What you learn in school is the opposite of what happens in the real world. In school, you're always worried about minimums. You have to reach 20 pages or you have to have so many slides or whatever. Then you get out in the real world and you think, 'I have to have a minimum of 20 pages and 50 slides. Votes: 0

When you enchant people, your goal is not to make money from them or to get them to do what you want, but to fill them with great delight. Votes: 0

When you give people too many choices it makes them hesitate and not buy stuff. Votes: 0

When you've worked hard and done well and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. Votes: 0

While we're living, we need to get over ourselves and accept others if we want to enchant people. Votes: 0

Writing a book is as different from digital curation as night and day. Digital curation is a series of split-second decisions: good/no good. It can even be done algorithmically. Writing is process-intensive activity. Votes: 0

Writing a book isn't an easy process nor is it always enjoyable, but it is one of life's most satisfying achievements. Votes: 0

Writing is one way to achieve enchantment. Votes: 0

Writing is the starting point from which all goodness (and crappiness) flows. Votes: 0

Writing is therapeutic. It helps you cope with issues that seem gargantuan at the time. The process of expressing yourself about a problem, editing your thoughts, and writing some more can help you control issues that you face. Votes: 0

You have to sit by the side of a river a very long time before a roast duck will fly into your mouth. Votes: 0

You have to start with the basic premise that you need to know what your competition is doing. Votes: 0

You know in a startup, you only need three people. You need someone who can make something. You need someone who can sell it. And you need someone to collect the money. That's the only three roles in a startup. So which one are you? Votes: 0

You know you're ready to write a book when you have a feeling that you should do it, no matter what anybody says. It's like falling in love or starting a company. When you're still wondering if you should get married or you're still wondering whether you should start a company that might be not the right person or the right idea. And writing is the same way. When you've locked on to the topic, you'll just write it. Votes: 0

You need to earn the right to promote. Votes: 0

You really can't spend money on socail media unless you really try. Socia media is really more about effort than expense. Votes: 0

You'll learn that the key to a great book is editing-grindin g, buffing, and polishing-not writing. Votes: 0

Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard. Votes: 0

Doing, not learning to do, is the essence of entrepreneurship. Votes: 0

If you must use more than ten slides to explain your business, you probably don't have a business. Votes: 0

Just do what's right for the customer, and you'll be okay. Votes: 0