BBOTM-06: Guy Kawasaki – “Wise Guy: Lessons from a Life”

For this episode of Business Book of the Month I’m pleased to be joined by the former Chief Evangelist for Apple, and current Chief Evangelist for Canva and Brand Ambassador for Mercedes Benz USA – welcome, Guy Kawasaki.

Guy famously likes to make 10 key points in a presentation – so to celebrate the publication of his latest book ‘Wise Guy: Lessons from a Life’, in this episode I ask him about 10 lessons that he took from key stages in his life.

Here’s what I asked him...

1) You studied psychology at Stanford University from 1972 to 1976. Looking back, what was the main benefit that you got out of studying psychology for your future business life?

2) You studied for an MBA from 1977 to 1979, but since then you’ve said that an MBA is a hindrance to entrepreneurship – what do you mean by that?

Is this maybe because you went straight into doing an MBA from your first degree, and you might have got more out of it if you’d had a couple of real jobs first?

3) Your first real job was in the jewelry business from 1979 to 1983, and there your boss Marty Gruber had a tremendous influence on you – what was the biggest life lesson he taught you?

4) In 1983 you worked for Eduware Services – your first tech job. What advice would you give someone today who isn’t working in tech to be able to move in to the sector?

5) After that you started the role that defined your next few years – Software evangelist at Apple. Your job there was to convince developers to create hardware and software products for a new computer that had a zero installed base, zero backward compatibility, and zero monthly sales. How good is your reality distortion field?

6) In 1987 you left Apple to start a Macintosh database company after as you said, you listened to your own hype about the opportunities in Macintosh software. Was it a good idea to listen to your own hype?

7) From 1989 to 1993 you wrote as a columnist for both MacUser and Macworld – what was a key lesson that you learned from that?

8) Shortly after that you went back to Apple – this time as Chief Evangelist. You say that your Apple Chief Evangelist job description was to protect and preserve the Macintosh cult by doing whatever you had to do. What was the biggest life lesson from that stage of your life?

9) After that you began a series of “Advisor” roles, advising firms like StumbleUpon, Motorola and Ustream. What is a common challenge you see that rapidly growing tech companies face?

10) More recently you’re back to “chief evangelist” type roles – Chief evangelist for Canva and Brand Ambassador for Mercedes Benz USA. What’s one key activity that a “chief evangelist” does that a modern business owner needs to make sure that is done in their organisation?

You sometimes have bonus tips in your presentations – what is one key life lesson that we’ve missed?

Thanks to Guy Kawasaki for joining me!

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