The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything

What does it take to turn ideas into action? What are the elements of a perfect pitch? How do you win the war for talent? How do you establish a brand without bucks? These are some of the issues everyone faces when starting or revitalizing any undertaking, and Guy Kawasaki, former marketing maven of Apple Computer, provides the answers.<P><I>The Art of the Start</I>will give you the essential steps to launch great products, services, and companiesýwhether you are dreaming of starting more >>

What does it take to turn ideas into action? What are the elements of a perfect pitch? How do you win the war for talent? How do you establish a brand without bucks? These are some of the issues everyone faces when starting or revitalizing any undertaking, and Guy Kawasaki, former marketing maven of Apple Computer, provides the answers.<P><I>The Art of the Start</I>will give you the essential steps to launch great products, services, and companiesýwhether you are dreaming of starting the next Microsoft or a not-for-profit thatýs going to change the world. It also shows managers how to unleash entrepreneurial thinking at established companies, helping them foster the pluck and creativity that their businesses need to stay ahead of the pack. Kawasaki provides readers with GISTýGreat Ideas for Starting Thingsýincluding his field-tested insiderýs techniques for bootstrapping, branding, networking, recruiting, pitching, rainmaking, and, most important in this fickle consumer climate, building buzz.<P>At Apple, Kawasaki helped turn ordinary customers into fanatics. As founder and CEO of Garage Technology Ventures, he has tested his iconoclastic ideas on real- world start- ups. And as an irrepressible columnist for <I>Forbes</I>, he has honed his best thinking about <I>The Art of the Start</I>.<B>Contents</B><BR><BR><I>A friend is one to whom you can pour out the contents of your heart, chaff and grain alike. Knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.</I><BR>ýanonymous<BR><BR><B>Read Me First</B>xi<BR><BR><B>Causation</B><BR>Chapter 1: The Art of Starting 3<BR><BR><B>Articulation</B><BR>Chapter 2:The Art of Positioning 29<BR>Chapter 3:The Art of Pitching 44<BR>Chapter 4:The Art of Writing a Business Plan 66<BR><BR><B>Activation</B><BR>Chapter 5:The Art of Bootstrapping 79<BR>Chapter 6:The Art of Recruiting 100<BR>Chapter 7:The Art of Raising Capital 119<BR><BR><B>Proliferation</B><BR>Chapter 8:The Art of Partnering 151<BR>Chapter 9:The Art of Branding 167<BR>Chapter 10:The Art of Rainmaking 192<BR><BR><B>Obligation</B><BR>Chapter 11:The Art of Being a Mensch 211<BR><BR>Afterword 217<BR>Index 219<BR>Guy Kawasaki, who helped make Macintosh a household name, now runs Garage Technology Ventures, a venture-capital firm. He has held his workshop, ýBoot Camp for Start-ups,ý around the world. Kawasaki is the author of seven previous books, including Rules for Revolutionaries.<B>Read Me First</B><BR><BR><I>The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ýEureka!ý (I found it!) but ýThatýs funny....ý</I><BR>ýIsaac Asimov<BR><BR>There are many ways to describe the ebb and flow, yin and yang, bubble-blowing and bubble-bursting phases of business cycles. Hereýs another one: microscopes and telescopes. In the microscope phase, thereýs a cry for level-headed thinking, a return to fundamentals, and going ýback to basics.ý Experts magnify every detail, line item, and expenditure, and then demand full-blown forecasts, protracted market research, and all-encompassing competitive analysis.<P>In the telescope phase, entrepreneurs bring the future closer. They dream up ýthe next big thing,ý 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. <P>When telescopes work, everyone is an astronomer, and the world is full of stars. When they donýt, 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. <P>The problem is that this means gathering information that is spread among hundreds of books, magazines, and conferences. It also means talking to doze << less