Blogcritics: Comments on The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki

Comment by Anita Campbell

Sun, 19 Dec 2004 14:36:52 EST

Hi Aaman, that's true about not charging for IE. Charging a fee for Internet Explorer, though, is not what is so valuable with it. It's about "owning" the desktop, including the browser. If IE wasn't valuable, why would MS have shelled out gazillions fighting the government's antitrust case over it? It's one of those "strategic" plays, and I'm sure Bill Gates has all the chess moves played out in his mind about the value of IE. Best, Anita

Comment by Eric Berlin

Sun, 19 Dec 2004 03:30:55 EST

Anita - Thanks for the great insight. What you have to say makes a lot of sense, both from what I've seen and what I can sense about the business world. Eric B.

Comment by Aaman

Sat, 18 Dec 2004 12:27:17 EST

AFAIK, Internet Explorer is not the core business of Microsoft - they don't even make any money on it. All other points are valid and interesting, though - I am awaiting this book via Amazon now and will review it soon

Comment by Anita Campbell

Sat, 18 Dec 2004 09:32:28 EST

This book is focused on startups, with a bit of bias toward technology companies. BUT -- it holds a lot of useful information for business people who work in companies that have been around a long time. It also applies to non-tech companies, too. What he teaches is a way of thinking about business, and a way of drilling in on what really counts. In other words, he teaches how to separate the wheat from the chaff. For instance, Kawasaki suggests outsourcing non-core functions (e.g., processing payroll) as much as possible, but NOT outsourcing key strategic functions such as research and development. I think that is good advice no matter what size company you are. BTW, he's not talking about offshoring necessarily, just outsourcing which easily could be to a small business in your same country. You have only to look at the largest companies out there to realize how good that advice is. No company can be great at everything. Just having a lot of resources doesn't guarantee that a company can focus and do something well. Just look at how Microsoft has never been the top dog in search, despite owning the desktop. Or look at how dismally Yahoo failed at auctions. And the risk they run is that if they take their eye off their core business, someone will come out of the blue and steal the core (witness Mozilla - Firefox eating MS Explorer's browser lunch). Leaders in those companies could have learned a thing or two from Kawasaki, I think.

Comment by Eric Berlin

Fri, 17 Dec 2004 18:00:39 EST

This book sounds good for business newbies such as myself. Does the book focus on business in general, does it talk about different industries, is it focused on "start ups, etc.? Eric Berlin Dumpster Bust: Miracles from Mind Trash http://dumpsterbust.blogspot.com

Comment by Anita Campbell

Fri, 17 Dec 2004 13:07:36 EST

Yes, Mark! You'd better get busy and read it now!

Comment by Mark Saleski

Fri, 17 Dec 2004 09:38:00 EST

what the hey?! is everybody reading this danged book except me?