The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide For Anyone Starting Anything - Hardcover

In the telescope phase, entrepreneurs bring the future closer. They dream up ôthe next big thing,ö change the world, and make late-adopters eat their dust. Lots of money is wasted, but some crazy ideas do stick, and the world moves forward.

When telescopes work, everyone is an astronomer, and the world is full of stars. When they donÆt, everyone whips out their microscopes, and the world is full of flaws. The reality is that you need both microscopes and telescopes to achieve success.

The problem is that this means gathering information that is spread among hundreds of books, magazines, and conferences. It also means talking to dozens of experts and professionalsùif you can get, and afford, an audience. You could spend all your time learning and not doing. And doing, not learning to do, is the essence of entrepreneurship.

The Art of the Start alleviates this pain. My goal is to help you use your knowledge, love, and determination to create something great without getting bogged down in theory and unnecessary details. My presumption is that your goal is to change the worldùnot study it. If your attitude is ôCut the crap and just tell me what I need to do,ö youÆve come to the right place.

You might be wondering, Who, exactly, is ôyouö? The reality is that ôentrepreneurö is not a job title. It is the state of mind of people who want to alter the future. (It certainly isnÆt limited to Silicon Valley types seeking venture capital.) Hence, this book is for people in a wide range of startup endeavors:

ò guys and gals in garages creating the next great company
ò brave souls in established companies bringing new products and services to market
ò saints starting schools, churches, and not-for-profits

Great companies. Great divisions. Great schools. Great churches. Great not-for-profits. When it comes to the fundamentals of starting up, they are more alike than they are different. The key to their success is to survive the microscope tasks while bringing the future closer. LetÆs get started.

Guy Kawasaki
Palo Alto, California
Kawasaki@garage.com

CHAPTER 1
The Art of Starting
Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him, and then choose that way with all his strength.
ùHasidic saying

GIST (GREAT IDEAS FOR STARTING THINGS)

I use a top-ten list format for all my speeches, and I would love to begin this book with a top-ten list of the most important things an entrepreneur must accomplish. However, there arenÆt tenùthere are only five:

1. MAKE MEANING (inspired by John Doerr). The best reason to start an organization is to make meaningùto create a product or service that makes the world a better place. So your first task is to decide how you can make meaning.
2. MAKE MANTRA. Forget mission statements; theyÆre long, boring, and irrelevant. No one can ever remember themùmuch less implement them. Instead, take your meaning and make a mantra out of it. This will set your entire team on the right course.
3. GET GOING. Start creating and delivering your product or service. Think soldering irons, compilers, hammers, saws, and AutoCADùwhatever tools you use to build products and services. DonÆt focus on pitching, writing, and planning.
4. DEFINE YOUR BUSINESS MODEL. No matter what kind of organization youÆre starting, you have to figure out a way to make money. The greatest idea, technology, product, or service is short-lived without a sustainable business model.
5. WEAVE A MAT (MILESTONES, ASSUMPTIONS, AND TASKS). The final step is to compile three lists: (a) major milestones you need to meet; (b) assumptions that are built into your business model; and (c) tasks you need to accomplish to create an organization. This will enforce discipline and keep your organization on track when all hell breaks looseùand all hell will break loose.

MAKE MEANING
I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor. What I have in my heart must come out; that is the reason why I compose.
ùLudwig van Beethoven

Many books about entrepreneurship begin with a rigorous process of self-examination, asking you to determine if you are truly up to the task of starting an organization. Some typical examples are

ò Can you work long hours at low wages?
ò Can you deal with rejection after rejection?
ò Can you handle the responsibility of dozens of employees?

The truth is, it is impossible to answer questions like this in advance, and they ultimately serve no purpose. On the one hand, talk and bravado are cheap. Saying youÆre willing to do something doesnÆt mean that you will do it.

On the other hand, realizing that you have doubt and trepidation doesnÆt mean you wonÆt build a great organization. How you answer these questions now has little predictive power regarding what youÆll actually do when you get caught up in a great idea.

The truth is that no one really knows if he* is an entrepreneur until he becomes oneùand sometimes not even then. There really is only one question you should ask yourself before starting any new venture:

Do I want to make meaning?

Meaning is not about money, power, or prestige. ItÆs not even about creating a fun place to work. Among the meanings of ômeaningö are to

ò Make the world a better place.
ò Increase the quality of life.
ò Right a terrible wrong.
ò Prevent the end of something good.

Goals such as these are a tremendous advantage as you travel down the difficult path ahead. If you answer this question in the negative, you may still be successful, but it will be harder to become so because making meaning is the most powerful motivator there is.

ItÆs taken me twenty years to come to this understanding.

In 1983, when I started in the Macintosh Division of Apple Computer, beating IBM was our reason for existence. We wanted to send IBM back to the typewriter business holding its Selectric typewriter balls.

In 1987, our reason for existence became beating Windows and Microsoft. We wanted to crush Microsoft and force Bill Gates to get a job flipping fish at the Pike Place Market.

In 2004, I am a managing director in an early-stage venture capital firm called Garage Technology Ventures. I want to enable people to create great products, build great companies, and change the world.

The causation of great organizations is the desire to make meaning. Having that desire doesnÆt guarantee that youÆll succeed, but it does mean that if you fail, at least you failed doing something worthwhile.

MAKE MANTRA
Close your eyes and think about how you will serve your customers. What kind of meaning do you see your organization making? Most people refer to this as the ôWhyö or mission statement of an organization.

Crafting a mission statement is usually one of the first steps...