TOP DRAWER BOOK REVIEW
by
HL Carpenter

 

The Art of the Start
by Guy Kawasaki
226 pages; hardcover; $26.95
Penguin Books, New York, 2004

So you have a fabulous idea. It’s going to revolutionize the way the world does business. All you have to do is ...

... nail down approximately ten thousand details. At least, that’s the common wisdom, as promoted in most business books. You know the drill. Write a business plan, create forecasts, conduct market research and competitive analyses, file for a patent to protect your creation, seek financing, find a partner. Then, somewhere in the distant future, with a large helping of luck, you might be able to get your revolutionary – and hopefully profit-making – idea into the marketplace.

Sound discouraging? Here’s an easier method: Simply get started.

That’s the advice you’ll find in The Art of the Start. As author Guy Kawasaki puts it, “No one ever got rich planning for gold.”

It’s not that Mr. Kawasaki thinks the usual guidance is worthless. He just believes the only way to get started is to jump right in. This is called ‘implementing’ in entrepreneurial vernacular, and Mr. Kawasaki wants you to do it immediately.

To borrow an acronym from The Art of the Start, here’s the GIST (great ideas for starting things): Create something meaningful from your idea and begin selling it. Of course, you may want to keep in mind that Mr. Kawasaki comes from a background in the computer industry, where extraordinarily buggy and annoying beta versions are the norm.

Still, if you’re seeking a plain-speaking guide for cutting to the center of the begin-your-business-here maze, Mr. Kawasaki is your man. The Art of the Start zips through topics like positioning, pitching and avoiding bozo explosions with wit and verve.

You might want to delay getting started long enough to read it.

 

Review originally published February 2005.