Guy Kawasaki: The Top 10 Mistakes of Entrepreneurs

The UC Berkeley Startup Competition (Bplan) proudly welcomed Guy Kawasaki to the Haas School of Business. Kawasaki, former chief evangelist of Apple and co-founder of Garage Technology Ventures, explained the top ten mistakes that entrepreneurs make. His talk covered all stages of a startup from inception to exit.

[cburgdorfer]

8:48 Multiplying big numbers by 1%
10:57 Scaling too soon
15:30 Partnering
16:29 Pitching instead of prototyping
19:54 Using too many slides and too small font
22:12 Do things serially
23:37 Believing 51% = control
24:52 Believing Patens = Defensibility
28:09 Hire in your own image
29:24 Befriending your VCs
Bonus:
35:55 Thinking VCs can add value

[stefanodsica]

It amazes me greatly how I go from living an average lifestyle to making over 63k per month
I've learned a lot over the past few years that there are plenty of opportunities in the financial markets; all it takes is just to focus on the right thing. Credits to Zach Micah Demers

[HelloAll]

Mistake 1: Thinking that getting 1% of a market (car market, hamburger market, phone app market) is easy. It is not easy, so don't think like that.

Mistake 2: Scaling too fast. You anticipate huge growth and customers that will love your product and you invest so much and then it turns out no one wants to buy your product, and you run out of money.

Mistake 3: Being obsessed with partnering. Partnering is essentially two companies coming together in an attempt to band-aid their weaknesses. Focus on SALES. Sales fix everything.

Mistake 4: Being too focused on your 'sales pitch' and perfect 'powerpoint presentation' that your prototype lacks. Focus MAINLY on improving your prototype. PROTOTYPE.

Mistake 5: This kind of a rule. 10-20-30 rule. 10 slides, 20 minutes, 30 pt font on a presentation.

Mistake 6: Doing things serially. In the real world, you will need to stay on top of multiple things at once. Not just hiring. Not just raising money. You will need to move everything down the road at once.

Mistake 7: Thinking that owning 51% of your company means you have control. NOT TRUE. The moment you take outside money (investor money), you lose control of the company and you have an obligation to the investor.

Mistake 8: Thinking that because you have a patent that makes you defensable. Don't even think about telling an investor that the reason you're defensable is because you have patents. You'll never have the time of money to sue Microsoft.

Mistake 9: Hiring too many of the same person. Hire a variety of types of people. In other words, have strong branches for every aspect of your company. Generally, you will need people who specialize in MAKING the product, SELLING the product, and COLLECTING the money.

Mistake 10: Trying to befriend you VC (venture capitalists or investors). They are just here to make money. Meet your deadlines/projections of 80% confidence minimum. Don't think that they're out there to help you and babysit your company.

Mistake 11: Thinking that VC's are the key to your success just because you know that they have invested in a successful company before.

*You should definitely watch the Q & A that begins at 41:05 *

[gubstav]

Watching this in 2022. Dang this guy was ahead of his time. All his points hit on target.
Talking about trends such as cheap tech infrastructure and free marketing in 2013.

[riccello]

Guy’s sense of humor is the biggest indicator of his honesty

[rotimibest]

Guy is just an amazing speaker. He is able to connect the dots in his speech and convey one message. It would be hard to forget the lessons he shared in this talk. Key things that stood out for me are
1: Patents are not really useful
2: Shut up and show a prototype
3: Still shut up and improve your prototype then show it again
4: Being frugal is an asset.
5. 10 slides, 20 mins, 30+ font size

[uqox]

Some of the most honest, "I don't know", I've ever heard out of a super successful person's mouth.

[zendoc]

I would make this mandatory watch for all students in college regardless of whether they plan to start a company or not. Best lecture I ever heard and so timely just as I was planning to start a company bigger than apple, bigger than microsoft and bigger than Tesla and bigger than all three combined.

[anthonyleonard]

Fantastic over-delivery by Guy.  Here is the 30 Point Font version.

1. Mistake:  Multiplying big numbers by 1 percent (Truth:  Don’t use this type of logic.  It does not work.)
2. Mistake:  Scaling too soon (Truth:  Companies don’t die if they don’t scale fast enough.)
3. Mistake:  Partnering (Truth:  Sales fixes everything.)
4. Mistake:   Pitching instead of prototyping (Truth:  A functional prototype reduces the risk that you can deliver.)
5. Mistake:  Using too many slides and too small a font (Truth:  10/20/30 rule—10 Slides, 20 Minutes, 30 Point Font.)
6. Mistake:  Doing things serially (Truth:  Doing everything at the same time is how the real world works.)
7. Mistake:  Believing 51% = control (Truth:  The moment you take outside money, you have lost control.  You have a moral, ethical and financial obligation once you take outside money.)
8. Mistake:  Believing patents = defensibility (Truth:  Only use the P word once.  “We have filed patents.”  “If you are acquired someday, the acquiring company will love that you have patents.”)
9. Mistake:  Hiring in your own image (Truth:  Seek balance to complement your skills.  You need someone to make it, sell it, collect it.)
10. Mistake:  Befriending your VCs (Truth:  VCs are in the business of making money, not making friends.  Just make your forecasts.  They will ask you step aside if you don’t.  “Just meet your projections.”  “Under promise and over deliver.”)
Bonus. Mistake:  Thinking VCs can add value  (Truth:  Fundamentally you want their money and 2 to 3 hours of their bandwidth each month.)

[DenysMarushchak]

I wish stand up comedy would be as informative as this talk. Very entertaining 

[marcorocchio]

"Sales fixes everything" - in business, truer words were never spoken

[MistaSmith]

The thing about the parallel stuff: True problems appear in parallel and need to be solved in parallel. But learning can only be done serially. It's physically impossible to learn financing and hiring at the same time. So be prepared to do a lot of crappy stuff, but do one thing well. Put all your heart in one area. And after doing that for 3-5 years you have learned something in most areas and can do much less crap, maybe little enough to finally win.

[PeaceofMindMusic]

I am a network marketing professional & I chose a company with products I use & love! i can help so many people.

[fgbowen]

I love the way he's coining the phrase/words - "Band Width" - That. is brilliant.

[daveb]

This is exactly why Guy is my favorite speaker.

[JaimePradoRodriguez]

Pure common sense, transparency and good communication. Thank you!

[AmyAnsel]

"the key is not the pitch, it's the prototype."  Guy would pick the prototype over the pitch all day long.  "you can fix the pitch but you can't fix the prototype." that makes sense

[lomaluv]

I really enjoyed his presentation. He was not only knowledgable, but captivating through his humor. He sounds like he's from Hawaii. He has this very down to earth quality which is nice to see.

[ekanem]

Amazing speaker, never get bored of hearing his talks

[sianazari]

I like his craziness!! and I like his last point! "Integrity", doesn't matter if they copy, truth will come out eventually.