Hello, Bugs!

About the Author Smriti Prasadam is a picture book author who has been writing for children for more than ten years. She lives in London, England with her husband and three children.

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

From Publishers Weekly Kawasaki ( Rules for Revolutionaries ) draws upon his dual background as an evangelist for Apple's Macintosh computer and as a Silicon Valley venture capitalist in this how-to for launching any type of business project. Each chapter begins with "GIST" ("great ideas for starting things"), covering a variety of facets to consider, from identifying your customer base and writing a business plan to establishing partnerships and building brand identity. Minichapters zero in on particular jobs that will need doing, while FAQ sections address the questions readers are most likely to have: Kawasaki covers the basics in an effectively casual tone. Much of the advice, however, consists of generic banalities—start your company's name with a letter that comes early in the alphabet, use big type in presentation slides for older businessmen with declining eyesight, and avoid writing e-mails in all capital letters—that can be found in any mediocre guide. Fortunately, Kawasaki does rise to the occasion here and there. He goes into great detail when it comes to raising capital and offers effective methods for sorting through the nonsense associated with interviewing prospective employees. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review “A successful entrepreneur requires three things: a garage, an idea, and this book—Guy’s irrepressible guide to the raw essentials of life in a young company. I wish we could post all this information on Sequoia Capital’s Web site because it would make our jobs much easier.” —Michael Moritz, Sequoia Capital “When God made the universe, He took Guy’s advice and started small and put his whole heart into it. Okay, not everything turned out perfect, but as The Art of the Start makes clear, there are no guarantees, only great opportunities. Read this book and then go do something wonderful.” —Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm “This is a delightful, complete, and consummately practical entrepreneur’s handbook—quintessential Kawasaki. Every person who wants to start a business should read it. And read the footnote on page eight. There’s more good stuff in here, but this alone is worth the price of the book.” —Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator’s Dilemma and The Innovator’s Solution “I have built my business into an internationally famous brand, and yet after reading this book, I have this nearly uncontrollable urge to chuck my whole business and start all over again. Guy’s book revealed so many things I had never even suspected and shattered so many of my illusions, that it read like a novel. I would love to be the bank for the people who read this book.” —Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the Guerrilla Marketing series of books “As useful for the next great not-for-profit as for the next great VC-funded startup. Anyone trying to change the world should read The Art of the Start . I wish it had been around when I started Teach for America.” —Wendy Kopp, president and founder of Teach for America About the Author Guy Kawasaki is the managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm for high-technology companies, and a columnist for Forbes . Previously, he was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc. A noted speaker and the founder of various personal computer companies, Kawasaki was one of the individuals responsible for the success of the Macintosh computer. He is also the author of seven books, including Rules for Revolutionaries , How to Drive Your Competition Craz y, Selling the Dream , and The Macintosh Way . He has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Read Me First The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ôEureka!ö (I found it!) but ôThatÆs funny....ö ùIsaac Asimov There are many ways to describe the ebb and flow, yin and yang, bubble-blowing and bubble-bursting phases of business cycles. HereÆs another one: microscopes and telescopes. In the microscope phase, thereÆs a cry for level-headed thinking, a return to fundamentals, and going ôback to basics.ö Experts magnify every detail, line item, and expenditure, and then demand full-blown forecasts, protracted market research, and all-encompassing competitive analysis. 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 entrepreneurs undertake. Unfortunately, this process is usually a painful and frustrating experience that results in exceptional mediocrity. This is almost inevitable when a large number of people are commissioned to craft something designed to make an even larger number of people (employees, shareholders, customers, and partners) happy. The fundamental shortcoming of most mission statements is that everyone expects them to be highfalutin and all-encompassing. The result is a long, boring, commonplace, and pointless joke.* In The Mission Statement Book , Jeffrey Abrams provides 301 examples of mission statements that demonstrate that companies are all writing the same mediocre stuff. To wit, this is a partial list of the frequency with which mission statements in AbramsÆs sample contained the same words: ò Bestù94 ò Communitiesù97 ò Customersù211 ò Excellenceù77 ò Leaderù106 ò Qualityù169* Fortune (or Forbes , in my case) favors the bold, so IÆll give you some advice that will make life easy for you: Postpone writing your mission statement. You can come up with it later when youÆre successful and have lots of time and money to waste. (If youÆre not successful, it wonÆt matter that you didnÆt develop one.) Instead of a mission statement and all the baggage that comes with it, craft a mantra for your organization. The definition of mantra is A sacred verbal formula repeated in prayer, meditation, or incantation, such as an invocation of a god, a magic spell, or a syllable or portion of scripture containing mystical potentialities.å What a great thing a mantra is! How many mission statements evoke such power and emotion? The beauty of a mantra is that everyone expects it to be short and sweet. (Arguably, the worldÆs shortest mantra is the single Hindi word Om .) You may never have to write your mantra down, publish it in your annual report, or print it on posters. Indeed, if you do have to ôenforceö your mantra in these ways, itÆs not the right mantra. Following are five examples that illustrate the power of a good mantra: ò Authentic athletic performance (Nike).ç ò Fun family entertainment (Disney).? ò Rewarding everyday moments (Starbucks).|| ò Think (IBM). ò Winning is everything (Vince LombardiÆs Green Bay Packers). Compare the Starbucks mantra, ôRewarding everyday moments,ö to the companyÆs mission statement, ôEstablish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow.ö Which is more memorable? Imagine that someone asks your parents or your organizationÆs receptionist what you do. Can it get any better than a three-word mantra such as ôAuthentic athletic performanceö?* A final thought on mantras: DonÆt confuse mantras and tag lines. A mantra is for your employees; itÆs a guideline for what they do in their jobs. A tag line is for your customers; itÆs a guideline for how to use your product or service. For example, NikeÆs mantra is ôAuthentic athletic performance.ö Its tag line is ôJust do it.ö Get Going The third step is not to fire up Word to write a business plan, launch PowerPoint to craft a pitch, or boot Excel to build a financial projection. Wrong, wrong, wrong! My goal in giving you this advice is not to reduce the sales of Microsoft Officeùremember, IÆm off the anti-Microsoft podium. ThereÆs a time for using all three applications, but itÆs not now. What you should do is (a) rein in your anal tendency to craft a document and (b) implement. This means building a prototype, writing software, launching your Web site, or offering your services. The hardest thing about getting started is getting started. (This is as true for a writer as it is for an entrepreneur.) Remember: No one ever achieved success by planning for gold. You should always be sellingùnot strategizing about selling. DonÆt test, test, testùthatÆs a game for big companies. DonÆt worry about being embarrassed. DonÆt wait to develop the perfect product or service. Good enough is good enough. There will be plenty of time for refinement later. ItÆs not how great you startùitÆs how great you end up. The enemy of activation is cogitation, and at this stage, cogitating the ôstrategicö issues of research and development is a problem. Questions like, How far can we leap ahead? What if everyone doesnÆt like what we do? and Should we design for a target customer or make what we would want to use? are beside the point when youÆre getting a new venture off the ground. Instead, observe these key principles of getting going: ò THINK BIG. Set your sights high and strive for something grand. If youÆre going to change the world, you canÆt do it with milquetoast and boring products or services. Shoot for doing things at least ten times better than the status quo. When Jeff Bezos started Amazon. com, he didnÆt build a bookstore with a paltry 25,000 more titles than the 250,000-title brick-and-mortar bookstores. He went to 3,000,000 titles in an online bookstore. ò FIND A FEW SOULMATES. History loves the notion of the sole innovator: Thomas Edison (light bulb), Steve Jobs (Macintosh), Henry Ford (Model T), Anita Roddick (The Body Shop), Richard Branson (Virgin Airlines). History is wrong. Successful companies are started, and made successful, by at least two, and usually more, soulmates. After the fact, one person may come to be recognized as ôthe innovator,ö but it always takes a team of good people to make any venture work. ò POLARIZE PEOPLE. When you create a product or service that some people love, donÆt be surprised when others hate you. Your goal is to catalyze passionùpro or anti. DonÆt be offended if people take issue with what youÆve done; the only result that should offend (and scare) you is lack of interest. Car design is a good example of the love-versus-hate reaction; consider the bifurcation of peopleÆs reactions to cars such as the Mini Cooper, Infiniti Fx45, and Toyota Scion xB. People are either devoted fans or relentless critics, and thatÆs good. ò DESIGN DIFFERENT. Depending on what management fad is hot, you might be tempted to believe that there is only one ideal way to design products and services. This isnÆt true. There is no single best way. Here are four different and valid approachesùand I am sure there are more. ôI WANT ONE.ö This is the best kind of market researchùthe customer and the designer are the same person. Therefore, the customerÆs voice can reach the designerÆs mind uncorrupted by corporate politics, reliance on the status quo, and market researchers. Example: Ferdinand Porsche said, ôIn the beginning I looked around and, not finding the automobile of my dreams, decided to build it myself.ö* ôMY EMPLOYER COULDNÆT (OR WOULDNÆT) DO IT.ö Not as romantic as ôI want one,ö but this is a credible path. You already understand the customer base, competition, supply sources, and industry contacts because of your background. You still need to build the product or service and get customers, but many questions are already answered. For example, alumni of Unit 8200 of the Israeli Defense Forces went on to create companies such as Checkpoint after developing security software for the military. ôWHAT THE HELLùITÆS POSSIBLE!ö This theory isnÆt popular when times are tough, and microscopes are flourishing. At these times, the world has turned conservative and demands that every market be ôproven.ö Markets for curve-jumping, paradigm-shifting leaps are seldom proven in advance. For example, when Motorola invented cellular telephones, no one leaped to buy them. At that time, portable phone was an oxymoron because phones were always attached to places. There was no market for phones that customers could move. ôTHERE MUST BE A BETTER WAY.ö The organization born of this philosophy is based on the idealistic notion that you can make the world a better place by doing something new. In many cases, the founders had backgrounds with no logical connection to the business. They simply got an idea and decided to do it. Example: eBay. Pierre Omidyar, the founder, wanted to implement a system for a ôperfect marketö for the sale of goods. (The story of his girlfriend wanting to sell Pez dispensers was an after-the-fact PR tale.) ò USE PROTOTYPES AS MARKET RESEARCH. In the early days of an organization, there is high uncertainty about exactly what you should create and exactly what customers want. In these times, traditional market research is uselessùthere is no survey or focus group that can predict customer acceptance for a product or service that you may barely be able to describe. Would you buy a new computer with no software, no hard disk, and no color that simulates the real worldùincluding a trash can?* The wisest course of action is to take your best shot with a prototype, immediately get it to market, and iterate quickly. If you wait for ideal circumstances in which you have all the information you need (which is impossible), the market will pass you by. The expected outcome of the ôget goingö principle is a first release of a product or service. Remember: it wonÆt be perfect. But donÆt revise your product to get prospective customers to love it. Instead, revise it because customers already love it. Let me put it in religious terms: Some people believe that if they change, God will love them. Others believe that since God loves them, they should change. The latter theory is the prototype to keep in mind for how to get going and keep going for startups. DEFINE YOUR BUSINESS MODEL You want to make meaning. YouÆve come up with a mantra. YouÆve started prototyping your product or service. The fourth step is to define a business model. To do this you need to answer two questions: ò Who has your money in their pockets? ò How are you going to get it into your pocket? These questions lack subtlety, but they are a useful way to consider the reality of starting an organizationù even, and perhaps especially, not-for-profits, which have to fight for money just to stay alive. You canÆt change the world if youÆre dead, and when youÆre out of money youÆre dead. More elegantly stated, the first question involves defining your customer and the pain that he feels. The second question centers around creating a sales mechanism to ensure that your revenues exceed your costs. Here are some tips to help you develop your business model: ò BE SPECIFIC. The more precisely you can describe your customer, the better. Many entrepreneurs are afraid of being ônichedö to death and then not achieving ubiquity. However, most successful companies started off targeting specific markets and grew (often unexpectedly) to great size by addressing other segments. Few started off with grandiose goals and achieved them. ò KEEP IT SIMPLE. If you canÆt describe your business model in ten words or less, you donÆt have a business model. You should use approximately ten wordsùand employ them wisely by using simple, everyday terminology. Avoid whatever business jargon is currently hip ( strategic, mission-critical, world-class, synergistic, first-mover, scalable, enterprise-class, etc.). Business language does not make a business model.* Think of eBayÆs business model: It charges a listing fee plus a commission. End of story. ò COPY SOMEBODY. Commerce has been around a long time, and by now clever people have pretty much invented every business model thatÆs possible. You can innovate in technology, markets, and customers, but inventing a new business model is a bad bet. Try to relate your business model to one thatÆs already successful and understood. You have plenty of other battles to fight. My final tip is that you ask womenùand only women. My theory is that deep in the DNA of men is a ôkillerö gene. This gene expresses itself by making men want to kill people, animals, and plants. To a large degree, society has repressed this gene; however, starting an organization whose purpose is to kill another organization is still socially acceptable. Hence, asking a man about a business model is useless because every business model looks good to someone with the Y chromosome. For example, Sun Microsystems wants to kill Microsoft. When is the last time you bought a computer based on whom the manufacturer wanted to kill? Women, by contrast, donÆt have this killer gene. Thus, they are much better judges of the viability of a business model than men are. DonÆt agree with me? The book The Darwin Awards provides irrefutable proof of womenÆs greater common sense. These awards commemorate ôthose individuals who have removed themselves from the gene pool in a sublimely idiotic fashion.ö* For example, in 1998 two construction workers fell to their demise after cutting a circular hole in the floor while they were standing in the middle of the circle.å The Darwin Awards contains nine chapters about the stupidity of men, and one chapter about the stupidity of women. I rest my case. WEAVE A MAT (MILESTONES, ASSUMPTIONS, AND TASKS) One definition of mat is ôa heavy woven net of rope or wire cable placed over a blasting site to keep debris from scattering.ö* Preventing scattering is exactly what you need to do as the fifth, and final, step of launching your enterprise. In this case, MAT stands for milestones, assumptions, and tasks.å The purpose of compiling the MAT is to understand the scope of what youÆre undertaking, test assumptions quickly, and provide a method to find and fix the large flaws in your thinking. Milestones For most people a startup looks as if it must achieve a seemingly unlimited number of goals. However, out of these goals are some that stand head and shoulders above the others. These are the organizationÆs milestonesùthey mark significant progress along the road to success. There are seven milestones that every startup must focus on. If you miss any of them, your organization might die. ò Prove your concept. ò Complete design specifications. ò Finish a prototype. ò Raise capital. ò Ship a testable version to customers. ò Ship the final version to customers. ò Achieve breakeven. These milestones apply to every kind of business. For example, a new school can prove its concept by seeing if two teachers, working as a team, using a new curriculum, can provide more individualized instruction and improve learning in a test classroom. With this proof of concept, the school can then complete the design of its curriculum, raise funds, roll out the prototype, and start teaching classes. There are other tasks (weÆll come to them soon) that are also important to the survival of the organization, but none are as important as these milestones. The timing of these milestones will drive the timing of just about everything else you need to do, so spend 80 percent of your effort on them. Assumptions Second, create a comprehensive list of the major assumptions that you are making about the business. These include factors such as ò product or service performance metrics ò market size ò gross margin ò sales calls per salesperson ò conversion rate of prospects to customers ò length of sales cycle ò return on investment for the customer ò technical support calls per unit shipped ò payment cycle for receivables and payables ò compensation requirements ò prices of parts and supplies ò customer return on investment Continuously track these assumptions, and when they prove false, react to them quickly. Ideally, you can link these assumptions to one of the seven milestones discussed above. Thus, as you reach a milestone, you can test an assumption. Tasks Third, create another comprehensive listùthis time of the major tasks that are necessary to design, manufacture, sell, ship, and support your product or service. These are necessary to build an organization, though they are not as critical as the seven milestones. They include ò renting office space ò finding key vendors ò setting up accounting and payroll systems ò filing legal documents ò purchasing insurance policies The point of the list of tasks is to understand and appreciate the totality of what your organization has to accomplish, and to not let anything slip through the cracks in the early, often euphoric days. MINICHAPTER: THE ART OF INTERNAL ENTREPRENEURING Innovation often originates outside existing organizations, in part because successful organizations acquire a commitment to the status quo and a resistance to ideas that might change it. ùNathan Rosenberg A large number of aspiring entrepreneurs currently work for big companies. Like all entrepreneurs, they dream of creating innovative products or services and wonder if this can be done internally. The answer is yes. The purpose of this minichapter is to explain how. The ôartsö that this book describes are equally appropriate for internal entrepreneursùthey, too, must innovate, position, pitch, write business plans, bootstrap, recruit, raise capital, partner, establish brands, make rain, and be mensches. But there are special recommendations that apply in this case. Ironically, many independent entrepreneurs envy the employees of big companiesùthey think that these lucky souls have humongous financial resources, large sales forces, fully equipped labs, scalable factories, and established brands, plus medical and dental benefits, at their disposal. How wonderful it would be, guys in garages muse, to invent a new product or service with the luxury of such an infrastructure already in place. Guess again. Creating a new product or service inside such a beast is not necessarily easier; the challenges are just different. I happen to have been part of a ôbest-caseö scenario: the Macintosh Division of Apple. I can explain the success of this internal entrepreneurial effort in two words: Steve Jobs . His off-the-scale design talents, maniacal attention to detail, and reality-distorting personality (plus co-founder status) made Macintosh successful. Were it not for Steve Jobs, Macintosh would not existùor it would have taken the form of an Apple II with a trash can. But if it takes a Steve Jobs to innovate within large companies , you are undoubtedly thinking, we might as well give up right now . While that kind of visionary is in short supply in any business, anyone with guts, vision, and political savvy should be able to set up an entrepreneurial outpost in an established business. I collaborated on this minichapter with Bill Meade, a close friend who helped Hewlett-Packard organize its substantial vault of intellectual property. We came up with this list of recommendations for internal entrepreneurs. ò PUT THE COMPANY FIRST. The internal entrepreneurÆs primary, if not sole, motivation should remain the betterment of the company. Internal entrepreneurship isnÆt about grabbing attention, building an empire, or setting up a way to catapult out of the company. When you have a good idea for a product or service, it will attract a large number of employees, from the bottom up. They will support you if youÆre doing it for the company, but not if itÆs for your personal gain. If you can attract a large number of rank-and-file supporters, you might not be totally dependent on what the ôvice presidentsö say. ò KILL THE CASH COWS. DonÆt announce this widely, but your charter is often to create the product or service that would put an end to existing products or services. Still, itÆs better that itÆs you whoÆs killing your companyÆs cash cows than a competitor or two guys in a garage. Macintosh killed Apple II. Would it have been better for Apple if a competitor had created Macintosh? No way. This recommendation is another reason why itÆs so important that youÆve put the company first: What youÆre doing is bound to be controversial. But if you donÆt kill the cash cows, someone external will. ò STAY UNDER THE RADAR. Two guys in a garage should try to get as much attention as they can. Awareness of their efforts makes it easier to raise money, establish partnerships, close sales, and recruit employees. However, the opposite holds true for internal entrepreneurs. You want to be left alone until either your project is too far along to ignore or the rest of the company realizes that itÆs needed. The higher you go in a company, the fewer people are going to understand what youÆre trying to do. This is because the higher you go, the more people want to maintain the status quo and protect their positions. ò FIND A GODFATHER. In many companies, there are godfather figures. These are people who have paid their dues and are safe from everyday petty politics. They are relatively untouchable and usually have the attention and respect of top management. Internal entrepreneurs should find a godfather to support their projects by providing advice, technical and marketing insights, and protectionùif it comes to the point where you need protection. ò GET A SEPARATE BUILDING. An internal entrepreneur, sitting in the main flow of a big company, will die by a thousand cuts as each department manager explains why this new project is a bad idea. ôThe new always looks so punyùso unpromisingùnext to the reality of the massive, ongoing business.ö* The Macintosh Division started in a building that was far enough away from the rest of Apple that it stayed out of the daily grind, but was close enough to obtain corporate resources. A separate building will keep your efforts under the radar and foster Tsprit de corps among your merry band of pirates. The ideal distance from the corporate pukes is between one-quarter mile and two milesùthat is, close enough to get to, but far enough to discourage overly frequent visits. ò GIVE HOPE TO THE HOPEFUL. Inside every corporate cynic who thinks that ôthis company is too big to innovateö is an idealist who would like to see it happen. Good people in big companies are tired of being ignored, forgotten, humiliated, and forced into submission. They may be trampled, but they are not dead. When you show them that youÆre driving a stake in the heart of the status quo, you will attract support and resources. Then your goal is to advance these people from wanting to see innovation happen to helping you make it happen. ò ANTICIPATE, THEN JUMP ON, TECTONIC SHIFTS. Structural deformations in a company are a good thing for internal entrepreneurs. Whether caused by external factors such as changes in the marketplace or internal factors such as a new CEO, tectonic shifts signal changes and may create an opportunity for your efforts. Effective internal entrepreneurs anticipate these shifts and are ready to unveil new products or services when they occur: ôLook what weÆve been working on.ö By contrast, corporate pukes say, ôNow I see the shift. If you give me permission, six months, and a team of analysts, I can come up with a new product strategy.ö ò BUILD ON WHAT EXISTS. The downside of trying to innovate within a big company is clear and well documented, but there are also benefits to doing so. DonÆt hesitate to utilize the existing infrastructure to make innovation easierùstart by stealing, if you have to. YouÆll not only garner resources, but also make friends as other employees begin to feel as if they are part of your team. If you try to roll your own solutions (as an extreme example, building your own factory), youÆll only make enemies. The last thing a startup inside a big company needs is internal enemiesùthere will be enough enemies in the marketplace. ò COLLECT AND SHARE DATA. The day will inevitably arrive when a bean counter or lawyer is suddenly going to take notice of you and question the reasons for your projectÆs existence. If youÆre lucky, this will happen later rather than sooner, but it will happen. Prepare for that day by (1) collecting data about how much youÆve spent and how much youÆve accomplished and (2) then sharing it openly. In big companies, data suppresses antibodies, but it might be too late to get the data once the antibodies appear. ò LET THE VICE PRESIDENTS COME TO YOU. Quick question: Do you think that your first step should be to get your vice president to sign off on your project? It shouldnÆt be. This is one of the last steps. A vice president will ôownö your idea and support it more if he ôdiscoversö it and then approaches you about sponsoring it. You may have to ensure that a vice president ôaccidentallyö makes that discovery when the time is right, but this is not the same as seeking permission to get started. ò DISMANTLE WHEN DONE. The beauty of an internal entrepreneurial group is that it can rapidly develop new products and services. Unfortunately, the very cohesiveness that makes it so effective can lead to its downfall later if it remains separate (and usually aloof) from the rest of the organization. Its effectiveness declines further as its members come to believe that only they ôknowö what to do, and the entrepreneurial group creates its own, new bureaucracy.* If the product or service is successful, consider dismantling the group and integrating it into the larger organization. Then create a new group to jump ahead again. ò REBOOT YOUR BRAIN. Many internal entrepreneurs will find that the rest of this book prescribes actions that are contrary to what theyÆve experienced, learned, and maybe even taught in big companies. The reality is that starting something within an existing company requires adopting new patterns of behaviorù essentially, rebooting your brain. The following table will prepare you for whatÆs to come: FAQ (FREQUENTLY AVOIDED QUESTIONS) Q. I admit it: IÆm scared. I canÆt afford to quit my current job. Is this a sign that I donÆt have what it takes to succeed? Am I not truly committed? A. You should be scared. If you arenÆt scared, something is wrong with you. Your fears are not a sign that you donÆt have the right stuff. In the beginning, every entrepreneur is scared. ItÆs just that some deceive themselves about it, and others donÆt. You can reduce these fears by diving into the business and making a little progress every day. One day youÆll wake up and you wonÆt be afraid anymoreùor at least youÆll have a whole new set of fears. No matter what, never admit that youÆre scared to other employees. A CEO can never have a bad day. But donÆt go overboard, either, and act as if you have no concerns, because then they will know youÆre scared stiff. Q. Should I share my secret ideas with anybody other than my dog? A. The only thing worse than a paranoid entrepreneur is a paranoid entrepreneur who talks to his dog. There is much more to gainùfeedback, connections, opened doorsùby freely discussing your idea than there is to lose. If simply discussing your idea makes it indefensible, you donÆt have much of an idea in the first place. (See the FAQ section of Chapter 7, ôThe Art of Raising Capital,ö for a detailed discussion of nondisclosure agreements.) Q. How far along should I be before I start talking to people about what IÆm doing? A. Start right away. By doing so youÆll be constantly mulling over your ideaùas both a foreground and background task. The more people you talk to, the richer your thoughts will be. If itÆs just you staring at your navel, all youÆll see is lint building up. Q. How do you know if itÆs time to give up rather than continuing to pursue a doomed venture? A. The old platitude is that good entrepreneurs never give up. This is fine for books and speeches, but not for the real world. If three close friends tell you to give up, you should listen. As the saying goes, when three people tell you youÆre drunk, you should take a cab home. ItÆs okay to fail as long as you try again. Q. I think that I have a great idea, but I donÆt have a business background. What should I do now? A. First, if all youÆve done is come up with a great ideaùfor example, ôa new computer operating system thatÆs fast, elegant, and bug freeöùbut you canÆt implement it, then you have nothing. In this case, donÆt waste anyoneÆs time until youÆve found other people who can do the engineering. Assuming that you can implement, there are two kinds of people you can recruit. First, you can get a mentor. This would be an older person who is willing to coach you from time to time but never actually do any work. Second, you could get a business partner. This is someone whoÆs willing to work side by side with youùeven on a part-time basisùwhose skill set complements yours. Either kind of person can make a big difference in your business. Q. When should I worry about looking like a real business, with business cards, letterhead, and an office? A. Make business cards and letterhead immediately. Spend a few bucks and get them designed by a professional or donÆt do them at all. Ensure that the smallest type size is twelve points. An office isnÆt necessary until customers are coming to see you, or you run out of space for the team. Q. Do I need a Web site? A. Yes, particularly if youÆre going to raise money, serve lots of customers, change the world in a big way, and achieve liquidity. Customers, partners, and investors will look for your Web site from the very start. RECOMM: ED READING Christensen, Clayton. The InnovatorÆs Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Grate Films to Fail . New York: HarperBusiness, 1997. Drucker, Peter F. Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practice and Principles . New York: Harper & Row, 1985. Hargadon, Andrew. How Breakthroughs Happen: The Surprising Truth About How Companies Innovate . Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2003. Kuhn, Thomas. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions . Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962. Shekerjian, Denise. Uncommon Genius: How Great Ideas Are Born . New York: Penguin Books, 1990. Ueland, Brenda. If You Want to Write . St. Paul: Graywolf Press, 1987. Utterback, James M. Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation: How Companies Can Seize Opportunities in the Face of Technological Change . Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1994." Read more

Little Owl's Night

Review Praise for LITTLE OWL’S NIGHT by Divya Srinivasan: "This debut picture book gets it all just right. The story, while familiar, is executed deftly and with heart, and the crisp graphic elements of the artwork juxtapose well against the pretty prose." -- Booklist, starred review "The story's chief virtue is its graceful, balletic prose... It's a provocative inversion of the classic bedtime story, and a solid first outing. Srinivasan's message is that night is a delightful place, and that's useful knowledge for small children." -- Publisher's Weekly "A graceful bedtime story celebrates the beauty found in night... Hold on to Little Owl's tail feathers and soar." -- Kirkus Reviews "This exceptional first book by Srinivasan, a talented illustrator... follows Little Owl during his nighttime explorations... this bedtime tale may even convert children who are afraid of the dark into adventuresome night owls" -- New York Times Book Review"This is the most visually and verbally gorgeous picture book of the year... Simple, dazzling - and simply dazzling." -- The Boston Globe About the Author Divya Srinivasan lives in Austin, Texas. Her other books are Little Owl's Night, Little Owl's Day, the soon to be released Little Owl's Snow, and Octopus Alone . She also illustrated the picture book, Cinnamon , written by Neil Gaiman.

Little Blue Truck Leads the Way

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

Review “ The Art of the Start 2.0 is the ultimate entrepreneurship handbook. Kawasaki’s generous wisdom, tips, and humor reflect his successes and failures. We can all benefit from his insights.” —Arianna Huffington, president and editor in chief, Huffington Post “This is a must-read book for every entrepreneur.” —Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and star of Shark Tank “It is wise to learn from experience, but it is even wiser to learn from the experiences of others. In The Art of the Start , my friend Guy Kawasaki shares the lessons behind the scars of his entrepreneurial adventures and the wisdom he’s gained in the process. Guy offers field-tested, practical help to anyone wanting to start a business, an organization, or even a church.” —Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life “Guy has done it again—evangelized something useful and meaningful. This time, it’s a bottom-up business approach profound in its simplicity: Focus on what’s real and forget the fluff. And please, read the last chapter first.” —Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, co-founder of Omidyar Network Praise for the original edition of The Art of the Start: "A successful entrepreneur requires three things: a garage, an idea, and this book – Guy's irrepressible guide to the raw essentials of life in a young company." —Michael Moritz, Sequoia Capital "This is a delightful, complete, and consummately practical entrepreneur's handbook. Every person who wants to start a business should read it." —Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator's Dilemma "Anyone trying to change the world should read The Art of the Start ." —Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America About the Author Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist of Canva (an online design service) and an executive fellow of the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley. Previously, he was the chief evangelist of Apple and special advisor to the CEO of the Motorola business unit of Google. His many acclaimed books include The Art of Social Media and Enchantment. He lives in Silicon Valley with his family and on social media where he has ten million followers.. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Acknowledgments In giving advice, seek to help, not please, your friend. —Solon Write what you know. That should leave you with a lot of free time. —Howard Nemerov Read Me First 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. —Ludwig van Beethoven If I knew then what I know now.” Most experienced entrepreneurs say this at some point. My goal is that you won’t have to because you read this book. I’ve started three companies, invested in ten, and advised organizations as small as two people and as large as Google. I’ve worked for Apple twice, and I’m the chief evangelist of a startup called Canva. Hundreds of entrepreneurs have pitched me—until my right ear won’t stop ringing. When it comes to startups, I’ve been there and done that several times over. Now I’m doing what techies call a “core dump,” or recording what’s in my memory. My knowledge comes from my scars—in other words, you will benefit from my hindsight. My goal is simple and pure: I want to make entrepreneurship easier for you. When I die, I want people to say, “Guy empowered me.” I want lots of people to say this, so this book is for a broad population: 1.	Guys and gals in garages, dorms, and offices creating the next big thing 2.	Brave souls in established companies bringing new products to market 3.	Social entrepreneurs in nonprofits making the world a better place Great companies. Great divisions. Great schools. Great churches. Great nonprofits. Great entrepreneurs. That’s the plan. A few details before we start: • My original intent was to merely update the book. However, I kept adding, altering, and deleting. Thus, this isn’t a “1.1” kind of revision. This is a “2.0,” whole-integer, real-man revision. When my editor at Penguin told me to turn on Track Changes in Word, so that copyediting would be easy, I LOLed. Version 2.0 is 64 percent longer than version 1.0.   • For brevity, and because entrepreneurs are more similar than different, I use the word “startup” to refer to any new venture—profit or not-for-profit—and the word “product” to refer to any new product, service, or idea. You can apply the lessons of this book to start almost anything, so don’t get hung up on semantics.   • If you’re reading the paper version of this book, you’ll see text that is underlined and italicized. This text is hyperlinked in the e-book version. You don’t need to buy the e-book, but I guarantee that you will gain more than the cost of the e-book in additional knowledge if you did.   • For every recommendation, there is an exception, and I could also be wrong. Learning by anecdote is risky, but waiting for scientific proof is too. Remember, few things are right or wrong in entrepreneurship—there’s only what works and what doesn’t work. I assume that your goal is to change the world—not study it. Entrepreneurship is about doing, not learning to do. If your attitude is “Cut the crap—let’s get going,” you’re reading the right book by the right author. Onward . . . Guy Kawasaki Silicon Valley, California GuyKawasaki@gmail.com CONCEPTION CHAPTER 1 The Art of Starting Up The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not “Eureka!” (I found it!) but “That’s funny . . .” —Isaac Asimov GIST (Great Ideas for Starting Things) It’s much easier to do things right from the start than to fix them later. At this stage, you are forming the DNA of your startup, and this genetic code is permanent. By paying attention to a few important issues, you can build the right foundation and free yourself to concentrate on the big challenges. This chapter explains how to start a startup. Answer Simple Questions There is a myth that successful companies begin with grandiose ambitions. The implication is that entrepreneurs should start with megalomaniacal goals in order to succeed. To the contrary, my observation is that great companies began by asking simple questions: • THEREFORE, WHAT? * This question arises when you spot or predict a trend and wonder about its consequences. It works like this: “Everyone will have a smartphone with a camera and Internet access.” Therefore, what? “They will be able to take pictures and share them.” Therefore, what? “We should create an app that lets people upload their photos, rate the photos of others, and post comments.” And, voila, there’s Instagram.   • ISN’T THIS INTERESTING? Intellectual curiosity and accidental discovery power this method. Spencer Silver was trying to make glue but created a substance that barely holds paper together. This oddity led to Post-it Notes. Ray Kroc was an appliance salesman who noticed that a small restaurant in the middle of nowhere ordered eight mixers. He visited the restaurant out of curiosity, and it impressed him with its success. He pitched the idea of similar restaurants to Dick and Mac McDonald, and the rest is history.   • IS THERE A BETTER WAY? Frustration with the current state of the art is the hallmark of this path. Ferdinand Porsche once said, “In the beginning I looked around and, not finding the automobile of my dreams, decided to build it myself.”* Steve Wozniak built the Apple I because he believed there was a better way to access computers than having to work for the government, a university, or a large company. Larry Page and Sergey Brin thought measuring inbound links was a better way to prioritize search results and started Google.   • WHY DOESN’T OUR COMPANY DO THIS? Frustration with your current employer is the catalyzing force in this case. You’re familiar with the customers in a market and their needs. You tell your management that the company should create a product because customers need it, but management doesn’t listen to you. Finally, you give up and do it yourself.   • IT’S POSSIBLE, SO WHY DON’T WE MAKE IT? Markets for big innovations are seldom proven in advance, so a what-the-hell attitude characterizes this path. For example, back in the 1970s a portable phone was incomprehensible to most people when Motorola invented it. At the time, phones were linked to places, not people. However, Martin Cooper and the engineers at Motorola went ahead and made it, and the rest is history. Don’t let anyone tell you that the “If we build it, they will come” theory doesn’t work. “The genesis of great companies is answering simple questions that change the world, not the desire to become rich.” • WHERE IS THE MARKET LEADER WEAK? Three conditions make a market leader vulnerable: First, when the leader is committed to a way of doing business. For example, IBM distributed computers through resellers, so Dell could innovate by selling direct. Second, when the customers of the leader are dissatisfied. For example, the necessity to drive to Blockbuster stores to pick up and return videos opened the door for Netflix. Third, when the market leader is milking a cash cow and stops innovating. This is what made Microsoft Office susceptible to Google Docs. “How can we make a boatload of money?” is not one of the questions. Call me idealistic, but the genesis of great companies is answering simple questions that change the world, not the desire to become rich. EXERCISE Complete this sentence: If your startup never existed, the world would be worse off because __________. Find Your Sweet Spot If you have the answer to a simple question, the next step is to find a viable sweet spot in the market. Mark Coopersmith, coauthor of The Other “F” Word: Failure—Wise Lessons for Breakthrough Innovation and Growth , and senior fellow at the Haas School of Business, helps entrepreneurs do this by using a Venn diagram with three factors: • EXPERTISE . This is the sum total of what you and your founders can do. Though you won’t yet have a complete team, you must have a core of fundamental knowledge and ability to create something in order for a startup to start up.   • OPPORTUNITY . There are two kinds of opportunities: an existing market and a potential one. Either is okay, but do a reality check of the size of the market in the next few years. There’s a reason people rob banks, not thrift stores. There are times, however, when there’s no way to prove that an opportunity exists and you just have to believe.   • PASSION . This one is tricky because it’s not clear whether passion causes success or success causes passion. Everyone assumes the former is true, but let’s be honest: it’s easy to get excited about a business that takes off, so the latter may be true too. Still, success may take a long time, so you’d better at least not hate what you’re doing. Don’t get the impression that all three factors are necessary or even obvious at the start. If you have at least two of the factors, you can often develop the third if you try hard enough. Find Soul Mates The next step is to find some soul mates to go on your adventure—think Bilbo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring . However, people love the notion of the sole innovator: Thomas Edison (lightbulb), Steve Jobs (Macintosh), Henry Ford (Model T), Anita Roddick (The Body Shop), and Richard Branson (Virgin Airlines). It’s wrong. Successful companies are usually started, and become successful, with the contributions of at least two soul mates. After the fact, people may recognize one founder as the innovator, but it takes a team to make a new venture work. “The first follower is what transforms the lone nut into a leader.” To illustrate this concept, Derek Sivers, the founder of CD Baby, showed a video at the TED2010 conference that starts with one person dancing alone in a field. A second person joins in, and then a third, and the crowd “tips” into a full-scale dance festival. According to Sivers, the first follower plays an important role because he brings credibility to the leader. Subsequent followers emulate the first follower, not only the leader. In his words, “The first follower is what transforms the lone nut into a leader,” and in a startup, that first follower is usually a cofounder. Cofounding soul mates need to have both similarities and differences. The key desirable similarities are: • VISION . Although this has become an overused word uttered by wannabe visionaries, in the context of soul mates, it means that founders share a similar intuition for how the startup and market will evolve. For example, if one founder believes that computers will remain a business tool for large organizations, and the other believes the future is small, cheap, and easy-to-use personal computers for everyone, they aren’t a good match.   • SIZE . Not everyone wants to build an empire. Not everyone wants a lifestyle business. There aren’t right and wrong expectations; there are only expectations that match or don’t match. This doesn’t mean founders can know what they want at the start, but it’s nice if they’re at least on the same page.   • COMMITMENT . Founders should share the same level of commitment. Does the startup, family, or a balanced life come first? It’s hard to make a startup work when the founders have different priorities. One founder wanting to work for two years and flipping the startup for a quick sale and the other wanting to create a company that will endure for decades will create problems. Ideally, founders agree that they’re in it for at least ten years. The differences that are desirable include: • EXPERTISE . At a minimum, a startup needs at least one person to make the product (Steve Wozniak) and one person to sell it (Steve Jobs). Founders need to complement each other to build a great organization.   • ORIENTATION . Some people like to sweat the details. Others like to ignore the details and worry about the big issues. A successful startup needs both types of founders to succeed.   • PERSPECTIVE . The more perspectives, the merrier. These can include young versus old, rich versus poor, male versus female, urban versus country, engineering versus sales, techie versus touchy, Muslim versus Christian, and straight versus gay. Finally, a few words of wisdom about cofounders: • DO NOT RUSH . Founders may have to work together for decades, so add them like you would pick a spouse—assuming you’re not a serial divorcee. It’s better to have too few founders than too many. Breaking up with founders, like spouses, is hard to do.   • DO NOT ADD FOUNDERS TO ENHANCE FUNDABILITY . The reason to bring in additional founders—and any other employee but especially founders—is to make your startup stronger and more likely to succeed. Ask yourself, “Would I hire this guy if we didn’t need funding?” If your answer is no, you’d be insane to hire him.   • ASSUME THE BEST, BUT PLAN FOR THE WORST . Founding teams blow up all the time. Your startup may be the exception, but just in case, make everyone (including yourself) vest his stock over time to prevent people who leave in less than four years from owning large amounts of equity. Make Meaning Now take your answer to the simple question, sweet spot, and soul mates and assume that you do succeed. Then subject yourself to one more test: Does your startup make meaning? Meaning is not money, power, or prestige. Meaning is not creating a cool place to work with free food, Ping-Pong, volleyball, and dogs. Meaning is making the world a better place. “If you make meaning, you’ll probably also make money.” This is a difficult question to answer when you’re two guys/gals in a garage who are writing software or hand-making gizmos, but it’s also difficult to comprehend how an acorn can grow into an oak tree. If, in your wildest dreams, you cannot imagine that your startup will make the world a better place, then maybe you’re not starting a tilt-the-earth company. This is okay; there aren’t many companies that tilt the earth. And there are even fewer in that category that set out to do so. But WTF, I want you to dream big . When today’s humongous companies were only one year old, few people predicted their ultimate success or the meaning they would make. Trust me, if you make meaning, you’ll probably also make money. Make Mantra The next step is to create a three- to four-word mantra that explains the meaning that your startup is seeking to make. For startups, the definition of “mantra” from the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language is perfect: A sacred verbal formula repeated in prayer, meditation, or incantation, such as an invocation of a god, a magic spell, or a syllable or portion of scripture containing mystical potentialities. Here are five examples (some hypothetical) that illustrate the power of a good mantra to communicate the meaning of organizations: • Authentic athletic performance (Nike)*   • Fun family entertainment (Disney)*   • Rewarding everyday moments (Starbucks)*   • Democratize commerce (eBay)   • Empower craftspeople (Etsy) These examples illustrate the three most important characteristics of a mantra: • BREVITY . Mantras are short, sweet, and memorable. (The shortest mantra is the single Hindi word “Om.”) Mission statements are long, dull, and forgettable. From the CEO to the receptionist, everyone must know it. Compare the effectiveness of Starbucks’s mantra, “Rewarding everyday moments,” to its mission statement, “Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow.” I rest my case. “‘Authentic athletic performance’ is much better than ‘Sell lots of shoes made in China.’” • POSITIVITY . Mantras are uplifting and explain how your startup does good things that make the world a better place. “Authentic athletic performance” is much better than “Sell lots of shoes made in China.”   • OUTWARD FOCUS . Mantras express what you do for customers and society. They are not selfish and self-serving. “Get rich” is the antithesis of a mantra. Customers want you to “democratize commerce,” but they don’t care about making you and your shareholders rich. EXERCISE Write your startup’s mantra in this space: ___________________ EXERCISE Think about how you serve your customers. What kind of meaning does your startup make? EXERCISE If someone asks your parents or your receptionist what your startup does, what would they say? Pick a Business Model You’re likely to change your business model several times, so you don’t have to make the right decision at the beginning. However, starting a discussion of this topic is important because it puts everyone in a moneymaking mind-set. All employees should understand that a startup either makes money or dies. A good business model forces you to answer two questions: • Who has your money in their pockets?   • How are you going to get it into your pocket? These questions may lack subtlety, but making money isn’t a subtle process. More elegantly stated, the first question involves identifying your customer and the need that she feels. The second question creates a sales mechanism to ensure that your revenues exceed your costs. The best list of business models that I’ve found is in a book called The Art of Profitability by Adrian Slywotzky. Here are my favorites from his book: • INDIVIDUALIZED SOLUTION . This involves a deep dive into customers’ problems and doing what it takes to make them happy. Over time a startup can add deep relationships with other entities to reach significant total sales, but each new customer involves hand-to-hand combat. (Slywotzsky calls this the customer solution.)   • MULTICOMPONENT . Coca-Cola embodies this model, according to Slywotzsky. Coca-Cola sells in supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, and vending machines. The same product is sold in different business settings and at different prices per ounce.   • MARKET LEADER . Apple embodies the market-leader business model. A market leader creates the most innovative and coolest products. Attaining this position enables a startup to charge a premium for its products, but it must work brutally hard to achieve and then maintain this position. “My daughter once bought $2,000 worth of ‘treasures’ for an iPhone game, so I know this can work.” • VALUABLE COMPONENT . Intel and Dolby don’t sell products directly to consumers, but their products are valuable components in the devices they use. Intel supplies the computer chip for many hardware companies; Dolby provides audio-compression and noise-reduction technology for many audio and video manufacturers.   • SWITCHBOARD . Slywotzsky applies this term to describe an organization like De Beers, when it controlled the supply of diamonds. This business model involves several challenges: achieving control of supply and convincing people that that control is desirable and not subject to antitrust issues.   • PRINTER AND TONER . This business model involves selling a product that needs refilling. Whether it’s an HP printer, a Keurig coffee maker, or a SodaStream soda maker, a sale is not an event but a stream of revenue for the course of the product’s life. This can also apply to a startup that sells software and then charges for upgrades, service, and support. Slywotzsky calls this the after-sale model. There are a few other business models that are attractive too: • FREEMIUM . The freemium model involves giving away services, up to a point: when customers want more features or capacity or to remove advertising, then they have to pay. For example, Evernote enables people to store information in the cloud for free. However, if they want more storage space and more functionality, the fee is forty-five dollars a year.   • EYEBALLS . The eyeballs business model involves providing a platform to create or share content that attracts viewers. The concept here is that certain brands would like to reach these same eyeballs, so companies can sell advertising and sponsorships on the platform. Facebook and Huffington Post are examples of this business model.   • VIRTUAL GOODS . Imagine selling digital codes for items that had near zero cost of goods and inventory holding costs—stuff like virtual flowers, swords, and badges for members of a community. That’s the digital-goods business. My daughter once bought $2,000 worth of “treasures” for an iPhone game, so I know this can work.   • CRAFTSMAN . Thomas Moser furniture is an example of the craftsman business model. This is the kind of startup that places the highest priority on quality and craftsmanship. It may never get large, but it’s the finest in its sector . . . although with a marketplace like Etsy, you never know. You’ll tweak your business model constantly—in fact, it’s scary if you don’t change your model or do some major tweaking along the way. Here are some additional tips to help you during the process: • TARGET A SPECIFIC NICHE . The more precisely you can describe your customer, the better. Many entrepreneurs are afraid of too narrow and specific a focus because it won’t lead to worldwide dominance. However, most successful companies started off targeting a market or two and growing (often unexpectedly) to a large size by addressing other markets.   • KEEP IT SIMPLE . If you can’t describe your business model in ten words or fewer, you don’t have a business model. Avoid whatever business jargon is hip (strategic, mission-critical, world-class, synergistic, first-mover, scalable, enterprise-class, etc.).* Business language does not make a business model. Think of eBay’s business model: charge a listing fee plus a commission. End of discussion.   • COPY OTHERS . Commerce has been around a long time, so by now people have pretty much invented every possible business model. You can innovate in technology, marketing, and distribution, but attempting to come up with a new business model is a lousy bet. Try to relate your business model to one that’s already successful and understood. You have plenty of other battles to fight.   • EXPANSIVE . Business models involving creating a bigger pie rather than grabbing more of the same pie work better for startups. This is because customers expect to discover products that are innovative and cool and are less interested in me-too, better sameness from startups. EXERCISE STEP 1 : Calculate the monthly costs of operating your organization. STEP 2 : Calculate the gross profit of each unit of your product. STEP 3 : Divide the results of step 1 by the results of step 2. Weave a MATT (Milestones, Assumptions, Tests, Tasks) A mat is “a heavy woven net of rope or wire cable placed over a blasting site to keep debris from scattering,” according to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Preventing scattering is what’s necessary for startups because entrepreneurs need to do many things at once. To stay in control, you need to weave a MATT, which stands for milestones, assumptions, tests, and tasks.* • MILESTONES . Accomplishing a large number of goals is a necessary objective for every startup. However, some goals stand above the others because they mark significant progress along the road to success. The five most important milestones are: • Working prototype   • Initial capital   • Field-testable version   • Paying customer   • Cash-flow breakeven There are other factors that affect the survival of the organization, but none are as important as these milestones. Their timing will drive the timing of just about everything else, so you should spend 80 percent of your effort on them. • ASSUMPTIONS . This is a list of the typical major assumptions that you might make about your business: • Market size   • Gross margin   • Sales calls per salesperson   • Cost of customer acquisition   • Conversion rate of prospects to customers   • Length of sales cycle   • Return on investment for the customer   • Technical support calls per unit shipped   • Payment cycle for receivables and payables Discussing and documenting these assumptions at an early stage is important because they are a reality check on the viability of a startup. For example, assuming that the length of the sales cycle is four weeks and finding out that it’s a year will cause cash-flow problems. • TESTS . You can come up with a solid list of assumptions, but everything is theoretical until you start testing them: • Does the customer-acquisition cost permit profitable operation?   • Will people use your product?   • Can you afford to support them?   • Can the product withstand real-world use? • TASKS . Finally, there are tasks that are necessary to reach milestones and test assumptions. Any activities that don’t contribute to achieving them are not crucial and are low priority. Essential tasks include: • Recruiting employees   • Finding vendors   • Setting up accounting and payroll systems   • Filing legal documents The point of the list of tasks is to understand and appreciate the totality of what your startup has to accomplish and prevent important items from slipping through the cracks in the early, often euphoric, days. Once you have your MATT, the next steps are to communicate it to the entire company, make revisions, begin implementation, and monitor results. Of all things, your MATT is not something to create and never refer to again. It is the epitome of a document to put to work and to alter. Keep Things Clean and Simple You will face hundreds of decisions during the startup process, and there’s often a temptation to optimize each one of them—sometimes by breaking new ground. However, it’s best to focus your energy and attention on milestone issues. For everything else, go with the flow and stick to your MATT by keeping things clean and simple. My experience and expertise is with U.S. companies, but these are generally accepted entrepreneurial practices: “In the United States, if your goal is to create the next Google, you want to form a Delaware C corporation.” • CORPORATE STRUCTURE . Every country has different commercial entities, such as corporations, partnerships, limited-liability corporations, and cooperatives. You want a corporate structure with three characteristics: one that is familiar, if not comfortable, for investors; sellable to other companies or on the public stock market; and capable of offering financial incentives to employees. In the United States, if your goal is to create the next Google, you want to form a Delaware C corporation. This is a separate tax-paying entity that can accept outside investment and can issue multiple classes of stock. Owners are not personally responsible for debts and liabilities, and losses are not passed through to owners. If your goal is to create a small business that isn’t going to seek venture capital and you don’t aspire to go public, then consider an S corporation, limited-liability corporation, or sole proprietorship. • INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY . A startup should unequivocally own or unequivocally have licensed its intellectual property. This means that there are no lawsuits, or any risk of lawsuits, by former employers and no charges that the intellectual property infringes on someone’s patents. Also, the intellectual property and licenses should belong to the startup, not the founders. This is because you never want a situation where a disgruntled founder leaves the startup and takes the intellectual property with him—crippling the startup. • CAPITAL STRUCTURE . This refers to the ownership of the startup. There are four warning signs; they all belong to the If-I-Knew-Then-What-I-Know-Now-Hall of Fame: • A few founders own the vast majority of the startup, and they are not willing to extend ownership to other employees.   • A small group of investors that doesn’t want dilution of ownership has dominant control of the company.   • Dozens of small investors make managing shareholders a burdensome and slow task.   • Overpriced previous rounds of financing make an investment unattractive to new investors. • EMPLOYEE BACKGROUND . Areas of concern include executives who are married to each other and executives who are related to one another; unqualified friends in high-level positions; and high-level employees with criminal convictions. These issues may signal that the startup isn’t a meritocracy. • REGULATORY COMPLIANCE . This refers to issues with state or federal laws and regulations, nonpayment of taxes, and solicitations of unqualified investors. Typically issues with regulatory compliance indicate clueless or crooked management—both are unacceptable and will hinder progress. Experts have written entire books about these five topics, so don’t make decisions based on my brief explanation of such complex issues. These are areas where you only need to learn that you don’t know what to do, so that you can find an expert who does. Do Something Cringeworthy If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late. —Reid Hoffman When I go back and read the first book I wrote, The Macintosh Way , I cringe at its crudeness. When I remember the first Macintosh, I cringe because it didn’t have enough software, RAM, or storage, and it was slow. When you look back at the first version of your product, you might cringe too. It’s okay. It happens to everyone. The first version of a product is always flawed, but how it evolves is as important as how it begins. The fortunate startups are the ones who are still around because they eventually got the product and business model right, so give yourself a break. Addenda Minichapter: How to Separate Contenders from Pretenders Once upon a time there were two engineering PhDs who were clueless about how to start a company. All they knew how to do was code. They were so desperate for money and adult supervision that when an experienced businessperson showed interest and offered to help raise money, they, in their own words, “followed him like dogs.” However, this adult didn’t know much about tech startups and caused them to make many mistakes in legal and financial matters. They parted ways but only after much aggravation and the significant legal expense of reversing incorrect decisions. “There are many experienced, successful, and savvy business executives who don’t understand the particulars of startups and venture capital.” This is not an unusual story, and it’s an understandable one. First-time entrepreneurs are looking for any particle of positive feedback, reinforcement, and advice, so they jump at the first sign of interest. The demand for adult supervision in the form of advisers, board members, and investors far exceeds the supply, so you may need to take a chance with people who are untested in these roles. If no one will dance with you, the temptation is to dance with the first person who asks. People who started their own company or worked at a company before an IPO can probably provide good advice. People who have not started a company or joined a company after it went public probably cannot. Experienced, successful, and savvy business executives at large companies don’t necessarily understand the particulars of startups and venture capital. For example, how much do you think a senior vice president of Microsoft who came from McKinsey knows about starting a company? Here is an EQ (entrepreneur’s quotient) test to separate the contenders from the pretenders. These questions will help you identify good advisers, board members, and investors (if you have the luxury of choosing investors). 1.	What kind of corporation should we form? Answer you’re looking for: “C corporation,” assuming the goal is to create the next Google. 2.	In what state should we incorporate? Answer you’re looking for: “Delaware.” 3.	Do our investors have to be accredited investors? Answer you’re looking for: “Yes.” Answer that should scare you: “No.” 4.	Should two founders split the company right down the middle? Answer you’re looking for: “No, you should allocate 25 percent to future employees and 35 percent to the first two rounds of investments. That leaves 40 percent for the founders to split among themselves.” 5.	Should we sell common or preferred stock to investors? Answer you’re looking for: “Preferred.” 6.	Should all employees, including founders, go through a vesting process? Answer you’re looking for: “Yes, everyone should vest because you don’t want a founder to leave with a significant percentage of the company after a few months.” 7.	Should we pay consultants with stock options? Answer you’re looking for: “No, stock options are for long-term employees, not short-term consultants. If you can’t afford consultants, do the work yourself.” 8.	Can we get a bank loan to start our business? Answer you’re looking for: “No,” assuming it’s a tech business. Tech businesses don’t have liquid assets to use as collateral. 9.	Should we use an investment bank, broker, or finder to raise seed capital? Answer you’re looking for: “No, angel and venture capital investors view early-stage entrepreneurs who use a banker, broker, or finder as clueless.” 10.	What do we need our revenue projections to look like in five years to attract investors? Answer you’re looking for: “No investor will believe them anyway, but they should be as good as the closest comparable successful company that has already gone public.” Also, you don’t want money from investors who do believe your projections, because they are clueless. 11.	How long should our business plan be? Answer you’re looking for: “You shouldn’t write a business plan. You should get customers.” 12.	Is there someone else you would also recommend who could be a good adviser? Answer you’re looking for: “Sure, my expertise is narrow, but let me come up with a list of other possibilities.” Answer you’re not looking for: “No, you don’t need anyone else; I know everything you need to know.” 13.	Do you think we need a real CEO? Answer you’re looking for: “Maybe, someday. But probably not right now. What you really need right now is a great product.” 14.	Should we use a headhunter to recruit people? Answer you’re looking for: “No, at this stage, you don’t have the money and can’t afford to spend what little you have on headhunting fees.” 15.	What should we tell investors when they ask us for the valuation of the company? Answer you’re looking for: “Find out what three or four investors think is fair, and then get more market traction to push it up.” Wrong answers: “Price it high and negotiate down,” “Price it low and negotiate up.” 16.	What do you think the KPIs are for our business? Answer you’re looking for: dependent on your sector and type of business. Answer you’re not looking for: “What’s a KPI?” 17.	How do I build buzz? Answer you’re looking for: “Build something great and use social media.” 18.	How big should our advertising budget be? Answer you’re looking for: “Zero dollars—use social media instead.” Again, these questions are relevant to U.S. companies with Google-esque ambitions, but the same kinds of questions apply in other circumstances. Run away from anyone who wants to advise you who can’t answer most of these questions. FAQ (Frequently Avoided Questions) Q:	I admit it: I’m scared. I can’t afford to quit my current job. Is this a sign that I don’t have what it takes to succeed? A:	It doesn’t mean anything. You should be scared. If you aren’t scared, something is wrong with you, and your fears are not a sign that you don’t have the right stuff. In the beginning, every entrepreneur is scared. It’s just that some deceive themselves about it, and others don’t. You can overcome these fears in two ways. First, the kamikaze method is to dive into the business and try to make a little progress every day. One day you’ll wake up and you won’t be afraid anymore—or at least you’ll have a whole new set of fears. Second, you could start by working on your product at night and on weekends and during vacations. Make as much progress as you can, try to get some proof of your concept, and then take the leap. Ask yourself what’s the worst thing that could happen. It’s probably not too bad. Q:	Should I share my secret ideas with anybody other than my dog? Read more

Dino Bites!

From School Library Journal PreS-K-Three dinosaurs are looking for lunch. The smallest one eats a bee. The next largest one eats her, and the biggest dinosaur eats him. But rumbling goes on in all those stomachs, ending in a comical surprise. Bright, vivid background colors saturate and bleed off the pages. The four goofy-looking characters are done in a lighter palette, almost pastels, causing them to pop. The spare text is in large, black print; there is one sentence per page or just a word, for example, "Bite!" for illustrative emphasis. This cumulative story will be a storytime favorite, enjoyed in a one-on-one setting, and a hit with beginning readers.-Anne Beier, Hendrick Hudson Free Library, Montrose, NYα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Review “...this brief, briskly-paced adventure will...capture the attention of the very youngest dinosaur fans--and give the adults reading aloud a good giggle too. Cartoon-style illustrations of three kinds of dinosaurs and a dragonflylike insect gallop, dart and swoop in a primitive portrait of a basic food chain that quickly pivots to become a prehistoric take on the old lady who swallowed a fly...features amusing internal rhymes and parallel sentences that punch up the joke. Variations in font mirror the differences between the characters, heavy black outlines make the creatures pop against brightly colored pages, and the simply drawn eyes and mouths are remarkably expressive...it's also tasty fun that goes down easily and is sure to provoke demands for seconds (and thirds and…).” -- Kirkus Reviews "This cumulative story will be a storytime favorite, enjoyed in a one-on-one setting, and a hit with beginning readers.” — School Library Journal About the Author Algy Craig Hall earned a degree in economics and politics from Warwick University and then, 10 years later, received his MA in children's book illustration. When Algy is not illustrating books, he works as a financial journalist for the Investors Chronicle . He lives in London with his partner and their two young children. Read more

Peek-a Who? (Lift the Flap Books, Interactive Books for Kids, Interactive Read Aloud Books)

Amazon.com Review Nina Laden's illustrations in this simple, rhyming board book are truly magical. The format is straightforward: on alternating two-page spreads, the words "Peek a" are repeated, opposite an illustrated page with a die-cut hole, behind which lurks a cow ("MOO!"), a green ghost ("BOO!"), and a mirror (you guessed it, "YOU!"). The youngest readers will delight in trying to guess who--or what--is peeking through the window, and can easily grip the baby-fist-size holes to turn the pages for the answers. The picture of the "ZOO!" is fabulous. Through the hole, all that can be seen is a wild pattern of colors, stripes, and spots. Turn the page, and find a wild kingdom of animals, one in front of the other: peacock, zebra, penguin, cheetah, elephant, and more. Ready for more peekaboo fun? Try Nina Laden's Ready, Set, Go! . (Baby to preschool) --Emilie Coulter From School Library Journal PreSchool-The exuberant illustrations in this guessing-game board book will enchant infants and toddlers. A bright left-hand page with the words "Peek a" faces a right-hand page with die-cut windows through which a visual clue can be seen. Turn the page and "Peek a MOO!" reveals a black-and-white cow; "Peek a BOO!" a green ghost; "Peek a ZOO!" a crowd of animals including an elephant, giraffe, zebra, etc.; and the final puzzle, "Peek a YOU," has a mirror insert. Vibrant colors with plenty of black outlines make this a charming visual treat for the youngest patrons. Lisa Falk, Los Angeles Public Library Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. About the Author Nina Laden grew up in the New York City area. The daughter of two artists, she studied illustration at Syracuse University. She is the author and illustrator of The Night I Followed the Dog, also published by Chronicle Books. Read more

The Photoshop Elements 5 Book for Digital Photographers

About the Author Scott Kelby is Editor-in-Chief of Photoshop User magazine, President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, Executive Editor of the Photoshop Elements Techniques newsletter, and is technical chair of Photoshop World, the largest Photoshop gathering in the industry.

The Day the Crayons Quit

Amazon.com Review Amazon Best Children's Book of 2013 : The Day the Crayons Quit , Drew Daywalt’s clever story of a box of crayons gone rogue will get the whole family laughing at the letters written by the occupants of the ubiquitous yellow and green box. The combination of text and Oliver Jeffers' illustrations match the colors' personalities beautifully as the crayons share their concern, appreciation, or downright frustration: yellow and orange demand to know the true color of the sun, while green--clearly the people pleaser of the bunch--is happy with his workload of crocodiles, trees, and dinosaurs. Peach crayon wants to know why his wrapper was torn off, leaving him naked and in hiding; blue is exhausted and, well, worn out; and pink wants a little more paper time. The result of this letter writing campaign is colorful creativity and after reading this book I will never look at crayons the same way again--nor would I want to. --- Seira Wilson From Booklist Duncan’s crayons are on strike. One morning he opens his desk looking for them and, in their place, finds a pack of letters detailing their grievances, one crayon at a time. Red is tired. Beige is bored. Black is misunderstood. Peach is naked! The conceit is an enticing one, and although the crayons’ complaints are not entirely unique (a preponderance centers around some variation of overuse), the artist’s indelible characterization contributes significant charm. Indeed, Jeffers’ ability to communicate emotion in simple gestures, even on a skinny cylinder of wax, elevates crayon drawing to remarkable heights. First-class bookmaking, with clean design, ample trim size, and substantial paper stock, adds to the quality feel. A final spread sees all things right, as Duncan fills a page with bright, delightful imagery, addressing each of the crayons’ issues and forcing them into colorful cooperation. Kids who already attribute feelings to their playthings will never look at crayons the same way again. Grades K-3. --Thom Barthelmess Review Goodreads' 2013 Picture Book of the Year! Amazon's Best Picture Book of the Year! A Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2013! Winner of the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award * “Hilarious . . . Move over, Click, Clack, Moo ; we’ve got a new contender for the most successful picture-book strike.” – BCCB , starred review “Jeffers . . . elevates crayon drawing to remarkable heights.” – Booklist “Fresh and funny.” – The Wall Street Journal "This book will have children asking to have it read again and again.” – Library Media Connection * “This colorful title should make for an uproarious storytime.” – School Library Journal , starred review * “These memorable personalities will leave readers glancing apprehensively at their own crayon boxes.” – Publishers Weekly , starred review “Utterly original.” – San Francisco Chronicle About the Author Although Drew Daywalt grew up in a haunted house, he now lives in a Southern California home, haunted by only his wife, two kids, and German Shepherd. He is the author of the blockbuster hit The Day the Crayons Quit as well as The Day the Crayons Came Home and The Crayons' Christmas . His favorite crayon is Black. Oliver Jeffers makes art and tells stories. From his much-loved debut, How to Catch a Star he has gone on to create a collection of award-winning and bestselling picture books, which have been translated all over the globe, including the #1 New York Times bestseller and TIME Best Book of the Year Here We Are . Oliver is from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and young children. Read more

The Wait: A Powerful Practice for Finding the Love of Your Life and the Life You Love

Review "The Wait is an easy read, filled with powerful gems for someone ready to begin living a life free of addictive behaviors that drain away self-awareness." ― EBONY Magazine "Who we marry is the most important decision we make. The Wait is a must-read for any person considering marriage and seeking to discover the greatness life has to offer! DeVon and Meagan offer a transformative and honest blueprint to unlock your blessings. This book has changed my life...you can't afford to not read The Wait ." -- Charreah K. Jackson, ESSENCE Lifestyle & Relationships Editor About the Author DeVon Franklin is an award-winning film & TV producer, bestselling author, renowned preacher, and spiritual success coach. DeVon is the ultimate multi-hyphenate. With a commitment to uplifting the masses through entertainment, Franklin has quickly become a force in the media as well as a leading authority on faith, spiritual wellness, and personal development. Beliefnet has called him one of the “Most Influential Christians Under 40,” Variety named him one of the “Top 10 Producers to Watch,” Ebony has distinguished him as one of the “Top 100 Influential African Americans in America,” and even Oprah has called him “a bonafide dynamo...a different kind of spiritual teacher for our times.” Franklin serves as President/CEO of Franklin Entertainment, a dynamic multimedia entertainment company with a first-look film deal at 20th Century Fox. As a filmmaker, Franklin is producing the inspirational true story Breakthrough starring Chrissy Metz in theaters Easter of 2020. Additionally, he produced the hit animated film The Star and the hit film Miracles from Heaven . Along with his work as a producer, Franklin is the author of The Truth About Men , as well as The Hollywood Commandments , New York Times bestseller The Wait (cowritten with his wife, award-winning actress Meagan Good), and Produced by Faith . Live Free is his most recent book. Meagan Good is an award-winning actress, bestselling author, and producer. She’s headlined some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters including Think Like A Man, Think Like a Man Too, Anchorman: The Legend Continues, Stomp The Yard and the critically acclaimed Eve’s Bayou. She also starred in Deception for NBC and Minority Report for Fox. She is the New York Times bestselling author of The Wait . She’s also cofounder of The Greater Good Foundation, a non-profit organization that advocates for the empowerment and enrichment of young women.