One morning in our Technoprenuership 2 we had watched a talk from Guy Kawasaki about starting up a company. Guy Kawasaki, founder and Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures, and has spoken to Stanford University students in October, 2004. In his speech he stressed that believes that those companies who set out to make a positive change in the world are the companies that will in due course be the most flourishing. Kawasaki gives examples of the most excellent way to make meaning is to increase quality of life, right a wrong, and prevent the end of something good.
Guy is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine. Until that time, he was an employee at Apple Computer, Inc. Guy is the writer of 9 books including Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. He graduated with BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as fine as an honorary doctorate from Babson College. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1954. His family lived in a dangerous part of Honolulu called Kalihi Valley. They were not rich, but he never felt poor for the reason that his mother and father made a lot of sacrifices for my sister and Guy. His mother was a housewife, and my father was, at a range of times, a fireman, real estate broker, state senator, and government official.He attended Iolani School where he graduated in 1972. Iolani is not as well known as its competitor, Punahou, but he got a unlikely and influential education there. After Iolani, he matriculated to Stanford University where he graduated in 1976. His major was psychology which was the easiest major he could find.
The fact is, it is without a solution to answer questions in advance, and they at the end of the day serve no point. On the one hand, speak and boldness are cheap and sometimes nonsense. Saying that you're willing to do somewhat doesn't mean that you will do it. On the other hand, realizing that you have hesitation and nervousness doesn't stand for, you won't put up a great organization. How you respond to those questions, now has little prognostic power regarding what you'll in point of fact do when you get caught up in a great suggestion.
In truth, is that no one really knows if he who is a technopreneur until he becomes one and experience in this field or sometimes not even then. There, in actuality is only one question you should ask yourself before starting any new venture and that is in to make meaning in your company. Certainly, the Meaning I am talking about is not about money, power, or prestige. It is not even on the subject of creating a fun place to work and be satisfied. In the middle of the meanings of "meaning" are to make the world a better place, increase the quality of life, right a terrible wrong, consider all other people and prevent the end of something good.
And also he tackled concerning goals in the company such as these are a remarkable benefit as the company takes a trip down to the easier said than done path ahead. If the company answers this question in the negative way, the company may still be successful, but it will be harder to become so for the reason that making meaning is the most powerful motivator there is and a must have. It was studied by Guy for twenty years to come to this understanding. In 1983, when Guy started in the Macintosh Division of Apple Computer, beating IBM was their reason for existence and driving force. They wanted to send IBM back to the typewriter industry holding its Selectric typewriter balls. In 1987, their reason for way of life became beating Windows and Microsoft. They wanted to defeat Microsoft and force Bill Gates to get a job flipping fish at the Pike Place Market. While 2004, he was a managing director in an early stage venture capital firm called Garage Technology Ventures. He wanted to facilitate people to create great products, build great companies, and change the world.
Another of his rules of thumb: "niche thyself." You want to sell those products for which there is a very high value to the customer and for which you have an ability to provide a unique product or service. An example of a product with low value to the customer and which is not unique? The dot-com (or dot-bomb) companies such as the many pet food sellers (the problem being "dog food weighs a lot!"), he said. Another key point is to listen to your customers, even if they don't behave the way you'd expect. For example, the maker of Brillo pads started out selling pots and pans to housewives, and offered the free brillo pad as a free bonus. He later found there was stronger demand for the pads than the pans, and voila, a successful brand was born. "People buying your products are not, many times, your anticipated customers," said Guy.
Aside from Kawasaki’s objective for his readers to make meaning, his goal in this book is for an entrepreneur with a great idea to take this advice and get started. If the title of the book wasn’t evidence enough, Kawasaki advocates starting as the first and most critical step. Too much time is wasted setting up, and not doing, so this book is the catalyst that will cause technopreneurs who are stuck on the starting line to as a final point enter the race.
The causation of great organizations is the longing to make meaning. Having that longing does not promise that you will be successful, but it does denote that if you fail, at least you failed doing something meaningful. I close your eyes and think about how I could serve my clients and customers. What type of meaning do we see in our organization making? For the most part people refer to this as the question or a mission statement of an organization. Crafting a mission statement is more often than not one of the first steps technopreneurs embark on. Sorry to say, this progression is as a rule a sore and frustrating occurrence that results in incomparable weakness. This is a just about to be anticipated when a large number of people are commissioned to craft something designed to make an even larger number of people like employees, shareholders, customers, clients and partners be happy. The original fault of the largest part of mission statements is that everyone expects them to be pretentious and all-encompassing. The result is a lengthy, boring, commonplace, and pointless shaggy dog story. In The Mission Statement Book, Jeffrey Abrams provides more than 300 examples of mission statements that lay bare that companies are all writing the same middle-of-the-road stuff.
What a grand thing to have a tune, in how a lot of mission statements call to mind such power and emotion. The beauty of a having a tune is that everybody will expect it to be undersized and yet sweet. You may never have to write your tune down, make public it in your yearly report, or print it on posters. Without a doubt, if you do have to "enforce" your tune in these customs, it is not the right tune that we have. Kawasaki wrote in a down to earth tone, with an position of “let’s stop thinking about the foolishness and talk about what actually works.” Kawasaki describes his own writing style as cutting through the theories, and getting down to authentic world tactics. The information is portrayed as though it is coming from a friend who wishes to see you get the better of the world. Contrast that to a multitude of “how-to” guides written with business lingo from a clever person who’s talking down to you. For all intents and purposes what Guy is trying to get from corner to corner is that to start something and stay dedicated to what on earth you are starting it must mean something, in particular it must having meaning to the betterment of the world. Your dedication should not come from money, or squashing the competition, it should come from making the world a better place and if you strive to do that you will have a meaning to keep you focused. Every start-up business should establish their position in the market. This position is self assumed, motivated by the same “meaning” from number 1 of the art of starting. Your position should clearly state the following: why the founders started the organization, why customers should support it, and why good people should work at it. The chapter is broken down into eight key points and steps to be taken for establishing your company’s position amongst the rivalry and communicating your position to the market.
Compare the Starbucks tune, which is "Rewarding everyday moments," to the company's mission statement, "Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow." So they choose the most memorable. Imagine that someone asks your parents or your organization's receptionist what you do. Can it get any better than a three-word tune such as "Authentic athletic performance"?
A final thought on making tunes in the company: Do not perplex tunes and tag lines. Make your tune for your employees; it is a principle for what they do in their jobs and most of all in your own job. A tag line is for your customers and it is a principle for how to use your product or service. For example, Nike's tune is "Authentic athletic performance." Its tag line is "Just do it."
On a pure meaning v. money debate, I personally choose meaning, with qualifications--the money must be of a certain level to enable meaning to win the prize. But this will always be a question of nuance more than absolutes--overpay someone wildly and they will probably make the "mistake" of choosing too much dough. Yes, meaning is the impetus, but money only becomes an issue after the employee has entrusted the company to continue delivering meaning. If that trust is rebuffed or broken, then no amount of money will resolve the issue. This is what the insight discovery process is all about – actively engaging with customers in an ongoing, intimate dialogue over months and years through private insight communities, so they let you into their lives and mindset – the insights, big and small, will blow you away.
Guy added two important things to be consider in the said field first is the Milestones: these are the goals that must be achieved on your road to achievement. aim dates should be set for the conclusion of these milestones and not a success to do so could doom the company. And second is Assumptions: this is a comprehensive list of major assumptions you should make about the business. These should be continuously tracked and each should be linked to a milestone so as you reach a milestone you can test an assumption. Tasks: another comprehensive list that is composed of the tasks required to design, manufacture, sell, ship, and support you product or service. These are not as crucial as the milestones, but help you understand the totality of what your company has to accomplish.
After he wrapped up his speech, Guy introduced demos of two products his company is funding: one, MyCollectibles, is a way for people to showcase their collections and also intergrate their auctions.
Fortune favors the bold, so I will try to excerpt from the giver of some advice that will make life easy for us, and yet postpone writing the mission statement. We can come up with it in a while when we are flourishing and have lots of time and money to waste. And if we are not successful, it will not matter that we did not build up one. Instead of a mission statement and all the bags that comes with it, craft a tune for your organization. The definition of tune is meaning… so make meaning. Then again Guy Kawasaki made the emphasis that If you’re into personal branding with the goal of making money, stop now. You will attract the wrong kind of people into your life. Instead, start with the goal of making meaning. What better way to align all your actions with your long-term goals. What kind of meaning will you make? Kawasaki suggests two ideas for inspiration: 1) right a wrong, or 2) prevent the end of something good. What will you do to make the world a better place?
http://www.guykawasaki.com/about/index.shtml
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20080912-160228/Guy-Kawasaki-Make-meaning-not-money
http://www.enotalone.com/article/6447.html
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