I consider Guy Kawasaki to be one of my mentors. For me he embodies the
true entrepreneurial spirit.
(If you don’t know him, shame on you, really.)
One of his greatest assets – and I’m learning this from him – to cut
through the crap and present really powerful ideas in everyday language.
Following is my Top 7 quotes on entrepreneurship from him, taken from
this gold mine of Forbes. Why these ideas? As you know, the world changes
constantly – we break and reinvent all the rules. I believe that these “unwritten
laws” should never be broken.
One.
"Make meaning."
Two
"Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard."
Three
"A true entrepreneur can recruit… by
communicating passion and creating a great product or service."
Four
"I don't believe in the psychobabble, mumbo jumbo about
entrepreneurship: first child versus second child, breast-fed versus formula.
Besides, if I listed them, it's not like you could magically and actually
change yourself. So if you want to start a company, start a company. Don't
bother to 'check' to see if you've got what it takes."
Five
"I know now that one's children are more important
than any company you can start. Raising children is the purest form of
entrepreneurship."
Six
"You
can learn the technical and management skills that increase the likelihood of
success, but there are many other factors that you cannot get out of a book or
lecture. Luck, honestly, is one them. Another is compassion; for example,
laying off an employee is the hardest thing in the world to do, and you can't
study that.
Classroom learning is definitely helpful, but it is not
sufficient. If I had to weight the major factors, I'd say experience is 20%,
classroom learning is 10%, hard work is 30% and luck is 40%."
Seven
"The
critical issue is why you'll succeed and the others won't. When someone tells
me that "no one else is doing this," I conclude one of two things:
(a) there's no market; or (b) you're so clueless you can't even use Google
to find out that five other companies are doing the same thing. Neither conclusion is conducive to an investment."
