Book: Guy Kawasaki “Art of the Start 2.0”

Guy Kawasaki is described as “the boldest venture capitalist in Silicon Valley,” according to the cover of the Russian edition of his book The Art of the Start. In the original English version, however, no one characterizes him this way, nor did he include his own name in the book’s title—that was the work of the Russian publishers (in the Russian version, the book is titled Startup by Kawasaki.)

I can’t speak to his boldness, but Guy Kawasaki is best known for promoting the Macintosh brand at Apple in the 1980s, and he is credited with creating both the strategy and even the term “evangelism” (when a product gains passionate fans who promote and advertise it on your behalf—”evangelists”).

The book is often recommended as an excellent guide for those wanting to start their own business and for those seeking investors for such ventures. The book’s subtitle positions it as a collection of time-tested methods for launching any business.

Yes, the book consists of a series of relatively short chapters covering everything that might be needed to start a new business: from preparing a pitch and finding investors to hiring employees and working with customers.

And this duality is both the strength and the weakness of the book. The strength lies in the author’s approach—avoiding lengthy moralizing and instead presenting material in short, punchy examples. The weakness is that the chapters end up feeling too disjointed, lacking a cohesive flow throughout the book. Some chapters, due to their brevity, even come across as somewhat superficial.

Some of the advice is slightly outdated, despite the book not being that old. But the tech world evolves so quickly that it’s hard to know how long any advice will stay relevant. This happened with the author’s promotion of Google+, which he enthusiastically recommended, only for the internet giant to decide in 2019 to shut it down due to stiff competition in that sector.

But let’s focus on what the book does well. I highlighted several sections that stood out for me.

Presentations. Guy Kawasaki provides a fairly detailed breakdown of how to structure and then “tell” your presentation. Many of his tips seem obvious once you’ve been through the process yourself many times. Yet even from my own experience, I understand that just “knowing” isn’t enough. You need to practice repeatedly and double-check that you’re not making the same mistakes again. And practice is crucial—especially if you’re an introvert and find public speaking challenging. According to Kawasaki, a good presentation requires at least 25 practice runs. I’ve never done that many, but I’ve certainly gone through up to ten rehearsals, during which my initial presentation almost completely changed.

Investors. This chapter felt somewhat superficial to me. However, it’s useful that the author highlights which aspects of your project and presentation truly matter to investors. Naturally, he bases this on his own perspective, having been an investor for many years. But if you can understand how a few successful investors think, it can already help you structure your approach effectively. For instance, a solid investor may not place much importance on a business plan but is more interested in knowing that the product has an audience and can meet their needs in a competitive market.

Promotion. This section actually spans several chapters. Briefly, the most important aspects can be summed up as follows:

• Social media is better than traditional advertising
• Developing your own evangelism ideas: start by working with innovators and youth, then with early adopters, and only then consider the majority
• The customer comes first — you work for them, not for profit. Profit is a consequence.

Team. Also presented in various strokes across different sections. Guy Kawasaki discusses both hiring employees and briefly covers relationships and culture. This isn’t the strongest part of the book, as there are many higher-quality articles and books on personnel topics. However, he does mention a few excellent ideas that I share in my work as a manager:

• Hire people who are stronger than you. This is basically a fundamental rule. I still don’t understand those who are afraid to bring in strong employees—it’s simply short-sighted.
• Be able to admit your mistakes or faults. Don’t be afraid to show that you don’t know something. Colleagues and subordinates will never see this as a weakness. On the contrary, it raises respect and trust. We don’t want to work with jerks. Sometimes we’re forced to, but we don’t want to. Kawasaki even highlights: “And I will never believe that real success can be achieved only by becoming a jerk.”
• How to deal with those who aren’t “keeping up.” Should you fire them immediately?
• Don’t waste money during stable times. This isn’t just unnecessary spending; it can often work against team morale: “When your team retells these events to their family and friends, they should be ‘fun’ and ‘cool,’ not ‘expensive’ and ‘pretentious.’”
• Never let arrogance creep in, don’t feel superior to others. If you’re wealthier, smarter, or luckier, it doesn’t mean you can disrespect others. Since childhood, I’ve lived by the principle, “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” Kawasaki puts it this way: “Neither wealth, fame, nor power mean anything if you’re suddenly sick or on the verge of death. So every time you feel like arrogance is creeping in, just remember that we’re all mortal, and anything can happen in the next second. The title of ‘richest patient in the hospital’ or ‘richest inhabitant in the cemetery’ is a very dubious success.”

In conclusion, I’d say the book is worth reading, with a range of good advice on both starting a business and on leadership. There’s no particular pretension, even though Guy Kawasaki has achieved a lot in life.

However, since some of the material is shallow, I can’t give it a very high rating.

My rating: 3.5/5

Guy Kawasaki “Art of the Start 2.0: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything”

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