Former Apple computer guru Guy Kawasaki knows a lot about the mistakes that technology entrepreneurs make. He's made some whoppers of his own.
There was the day he turned down the chance to interview as the chief executive officer of the newly emerging Yahoo.com because it was too far to drive and "no way do I see this being a success. It has to compete with Alta Vista."
He might not have gotten the job, he said. He might not have made the company the huge success it is. "But I would have been there long enough to vest one year of options," he joked.
Kawasaki, chief executive officer of Garage.com and part of the early Apple design team, is famous for his books on entrepreneurship, including "How to Drive Your Competition Crazy," and for his "boot camp" for entrepreneurs. Thursday, he gave attendees at the Big Planet conference in the Salt Palace a taste of his good-natured, but pointed, tips. It was a comedy routine with a message.
He's certainly not alone in his career miscalculations, he pointed out. Lots of technology companies and individuals misjudge the market and the future. When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, his bosses at Procter and Gamble turned down the chance to buy the product, figuring it would never catch on. Who needs light bulbs when you have candles, right?
In 1877, Western Union dismissed the telephone as a gadget without a future. "It has too many shortcomings," they said.
And in predicting the future of the computer, an IBM chairman figured there would be a place for about five of the new devices worldwide. No one, he was certain, would ever want one at home.
Whoops.
Kawasaki offers up-and-comers these top 10 "rules for revolutionaries":
"Set your perspective right. And jump to the next curve or even create it." Ice harvesters were put out of business by ice factories. Factories fell to refrigeration creators. But no ice harvesters saw the market and became factories, nor did the factories get into refrigeration. "Most people can't be a revolutionary."
"Don't worry, be crappy." He points to the first Mac, with no floppy drive, no color, no lots of things. "It was garbage, but revolutionary garbage, a first step. Get it out there."
The first telephone was lousy. For one thing, "who would you call?" But it was better than the telegraph. "When your product is what toilet paper is to crumbled leaves, it's OK to ship."
"Churn, baby, churn." It's OK to ship something that has some problems, but it's not OK to never fix it. Your product needs to be updated and improved.
"Break down barriers." People don't like change, so you have to convince them. And that means letting people test-drive the product.
"It's more important to have evangelists than it is to have salesmen." Believers will sell it for you.
"Let 1,000 flowers bloom." When people you weren't targeting for your product like it, just be glad. For example, desktop publishing saved the Apple computer, he said. But no one at Apple really considered that particularly important to the product. It was a toss-on.
"Eat like a bird and poop like an elephant." Birds consume half their weight. An elephant drops as waste a small percentage of its weight. Kawasaki says people need to voraciously consume information, then spread it out evenly among the competition. "It's more important to legitimize the revolution than gain a competitive position. A rising tide really does float all boats."
"Think digital but act analog." Use all the technology you have, but remember the end result is a happy person at the other end of the transaction, he said.
"Never ask people to do something you wouldn't do." If airline executives rode in coach and ate the food, the world would be a better place, he said.
"Don't let the bozos grind you down." Particularly dangerous are the smart, rich, powerful bozos, he said, because you might be tempted to listen to them. Don't. "When someone says you're going to fail, it doesn't mean you're going to fail. Never believe anyone else's estimation of your capability."
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