Guy Kawasaki's The Art of the Start

While Guy Kawasaki's The Art of the Start isn't something that would likely make Paris Hilton's reading list, I'm absolutely certain that if she did read it she would have this response:

"Loves it."

Those are my sentiments on the book, as well. Each chapter is filled with extraordinarily wise advice on how to start a business, a venture, an enterprise or even a non-profit organization from a man who has actually lived these experiences many times over as a venture capitalist, himself.

Kawasaki's advice goes beyond creating a start-up or starting a business.

He says the most important thing in creating any venture is to make meaning. Have you ever fallen in love with someone without sharing a meaningful experience with that person? Of course not. It just doesn't happen. Kawasaki says by making meaning, entrepreneurs will be inspired by what they're creating as they're creating it, virtually falling in love with it, ensuring the venture's success. History proves Kawasaki to be correct.

Google was high on itself long before the billions started pouring in after its successful IPO. Steve Jobs was an evangelist for Apple even before the Mac.

Evangelizing is important in getting word out about your product, Kawasaki says, and recruiting a great evangelist can make your product a success with staying power, as Kawasaki well-knows from his Mac evangelizing years.

There's so much more in this sizzlingly hot book I would love to reveal, but I do have a business to run. You can buy it for yourself and your loved ones at Amazon.com.

If you are in business, you simply must read this book, whether you're Donald Trump or a new real estate agent starting your own new venture in the real estate business, or if you're in any other business - read this book!

What I found to be most touching in the book was your advice that entrepreneurs should "Make Meaning" - why do you think products that are seemingly created with this mantra in mind are more successful than others that are created with only profit in mind?

Because there is a God, and God is keeping track of how a company makes the
world a better place. Also, companies that make meaning attract a different
kind of customer, partner, supplier, and employee. It's an upward spiral.

I wish I could tell you that no one went broke making meaning. It's not
true. But if you fail by attempting to make meaning, at least you tried
something grand. If you succeed at making meaning, you almost always make
money.

(I'm a real estate agent) What advice would you give to real estate agents seeking to develop new business and set themselves apart from the competition in the present, and future real estate industry (which is likely to have more online real estate companies, discounters, automation, etc.) in order to ensure that their business is both meaningful and profittable?

First, real estate agents should step back and look at the meaning they do
(or can) make. For crying out loud, you enable people to actualize the most
meaningful dream in their lives: a home. If that isn't noble, what is?

My second recommendation is that real estate agents always look at the
long-run revenue stream of a customer. That's where you separate the pros
from the flashes-in-the pan.

Article Author: Mr. Real Estate

Visit Mr. Real Estate's author page — Mr. Real Estate's Blog