Guy Kawasaki: The Top 10 Mistakes of Entrepreneurs

The most important thing that should be on everyone mind currently should be to invest in different sources of income that doesn't depend on the government. Especially with the current economic crisis around the word. This is still a good time to invest in various stocks, Gold, silver and digital currencies.

I told my coworkers I wanted to have a mortgage paid in full before I turn 40 a couple years ago when I turned 27. I dont think they thought I was serious and that I was living a pipe dream. I worked 4 years prior and the next 4 years on overtime hours every chance I could get, took advantage of the stock market and housing market rally during 2020 and today at the age of 33 I am able to pay a mortgage in full and live free. It won't be a nice house, but it'll give me freedom to move to greater goals...

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

I love his energy, even the sniffing and the snorting didn’t stop me watching the whole thing. It was funny and I learned something.

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

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.)

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.

great video. Guy Kawasaki's message to entrepreneurs on top 10 mistakes is awesome. He touched upon everything from wrongly projecting a market share to the defensibility of patents.

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 *

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.

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

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

Movinga is a good example for scaling too fast "However, the biggest mistake we made is scaling too quickly. We were fully on fire to bring the moving industry to the next level. It is a complicated service and we have underestimated some of the challenges. Mistakes happen every single day, but we’re not afraid of making changes when we need to."

This is great stuff well polished presentator, quick improve, great listener/communicator. I know have the best-selling motivational real life entrepreneurs at hand though online videos. I now know what it is like to have mentors that I can believe in. You do it such ease, you have raised the bar for driven success the way I like it. Some of my managers, witch I am under have this skill in working with other's/addressing issues. Many thanks to Guy Kawasaki (hope to get through some of your books soon), and especially thanks to the i-lab for all your efforts. Making my reality such a promising one.

Great lecture. Very useful information. Thank you, Guy, and thank you Berkeley.

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

Amazing speaker, never get bored of hearing his talks

Enjoyed this much more that I thought I would. What an unforgettable character

i love dis guy! he is absolute joy and talks with humour keeping his humbleness even though he was one of the reasons the macintosh was a success! respect!

Loved the video! Business is hard and failure along the way is inevitable. Glad to see someone who is real about the industry.

I loved this video Guy is not only an excellent and knowledgeable speaker but he is down earth no bullshit

This guy is a true legend!!!

Guy is simply amazing in his inspirations.

Fantastic, I really appreciate the no BS expertise from Guy :-)

This was so friggin' helpful that I have to watch it 2 or 3 more times as I apply each note!

I really admire what you do and what you teach through your videos. I think I will be succesful by following your advice.

I like this guy. Very practical outlook on startups.

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

I love his quotes about partnering and stupid money. Good stuff and very practical advice.

I just put up my first video on BRvid this afternoon; Talked last week to my daughter's tenant who is a MBA student at Berkeley Haas; Right now we have a distinguished visiting professor staying in our vacation rental in Berkeley who is teaching at Berkeley Haas MBA program; Our son is finishing his MBA at UCLA Anderson School of Management; We bought our home from one of original founders of Berkeley Evening MBA program; NOW, somehow this great presentation from Guy Kowasaki to Berkeley Haas MBA students appears like a rocket on my lap top. Talking about Google following me around?I started on my MBA program some 35 years ago but never finished it. It is scary. At any case Mr. Kawasaki has many good things to say and he is very entertaining as well. Have you done your prototype? That seems to be his most important advice for the new start ups.

Great lecture. I had a question about one of the mistakes. "Hiring In Your Own Image". Should the ideal hiring situation or process be linked to: matching the position with a prospective employees experience and skillset?

Excellent speaker and great advice.. Thank-you for posting this video online..

Great presentation, great insight! I get the impression that having a prototype is pretty important.

Guy, so much great information ... thanks for sharing your knowledge about entrepreneurs :) You rock!!!

Really enjoy this video, very informative and highly entertaining...great job Guy!

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

Great moment with Guy Kawazaki. Funny but at the same time full advices ! THX !

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.

Good to see a successful entrepreneur, VC, and ex-Executive of Apple, give this advise.

This Guy knows how to enjoy life...I'm getting his book

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” - Warren Buffett

Great advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Lucky to have Guy Kawasaki at your group!

The case number 2 it actually happened to Steve Maiden. They launched big and they had a huge demand for their shoes in the whole country, but they ware unable to deliver (from the book "the wolf of wall street").

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

Great Talk! Thank you Guy. And thank you Uc Berkeley for uploading this :)

Gery nice lecture infact it was not a lecture it is how one should connect to audience. Beautiful presentation and good jest. Loved it.

You said it. Better to stage an impromptu dance in a shed with friends who are already there than to prepare a lavish party that no-one comes to.

This Guy is an excellent speaker! Thanks Guy!

Greatly enjoyed this talk. Grew up listening to Zig Ziglar and other motivational speakers. I appreciate your directness and candor. You have one new follower.

Very informative along with a very good presentation. Thank you for posting this video.

What a talk!! Fantastic Guy Kawasaki!

I like when he mentioned the prototype oh my God you know this is the only way to go I've been doing this for quite some time and sometimes I get great feedback from people that would love to have said product. Thank you very much I enjoy your video and your lecture and believe it or not it's kind of sad that I can't subscribe to your channel because believe it or not I have too many subscriptions but I will follow you whenever you come up thanks and much blessings 🙏

Guy Kawasaki LOL hilarious & incredibly insightful presentation

Great video! Humorous and pragmatic!

How refreshing and to the point. Thanks for sharing.

Excellent tips and such a funny approach. Thanks Guy!

Thank you Mr. Kawasadi your video entrepreneur 10 mistakes is very enlightening, personally I've been a blue colored worker but enjoy the white colored careers. God bless, Gustavo Ceja

Thanks Guy for this truly priceless 20*2 = 40 mins of your views.. Learning = Priceless.. :)

Sad, but true. As an starting entrepreneur I find the patents so frustrating.

His book on "Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions" is awesome.

difference between a marketing guy and a technical guy he is charismatic af.

Awesome! thanks Guy!. Eyeopener... U seperated the myths from the reality.

Wow Guy Kawasaki this is a brilliant talk! Love your intellectual approach - relate to it! :o)

I love this Guy!!! Lot of insights.

The funniest guy ever. So wise!!! Gosh, I love you. lol

Quite sad that there was almost no good question from such a class. They were looking for rules on how to break rules... Loved Guy tho, what a guy!

Excellent speaker and great advice..

I love it! Currently on my management courses.

Really informative & entertaining

Amazing speaker, great content and presentation!! :)

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

I'm guilty of number 1. It's more when I'm in the midst of developing an idea rather than looking at actual long-term projections.

In the middle right now - and Wow! Incredible - best Seminar in a long time - Thanks for this.

I didn't know anything about this guy. He is so cool!

This guy is so good I had to rewatch this. It's that good.

A great man he is. Wow!

This guy is funny! Good advice, thanks.

What a luxury to have Kawasaki talking for you guys

Very entertaining and insightful!

"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

I'm just about to go live with a business I know will be a multimillion pound t business, about 2 hours ago I was thinking about the 3 people who have helped me during the last, worst year of my life. I am not a greedy man and thanks to their help I decided I'm going to give them all a % of the business, and straight away I thought I'd better make sure I keep the 51% 🤣🤣🤣

- Thanks For Sharing Your Information! - Easy To Follow, And A Plan Of Action For Business... - Mark Houck -

Every single word he said is true ! I should have watched this long back

golden hand in apple - GUY KAWASAKI SIR!!

Hi Noemi I'm learning Hungarian! Hogy vagy? I was so excited when I heard Guy ask this question in this brilliant presentation.

Thank for sharing your experience Guy Kawasaki

If you are a first time Entrepreneur this is a must see.

Finally, a REAL person. Researching!

just brilliant - a rock of sense and I have made all of these!!!

a good informative video with nice questions and answer.thank you

This guy has a ton of experience

So informative and entertaining :-) :-)

have alwys been a fan of his delivery style.... good one Guy :)

Thanks for sharing critical information.

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

Hello Guy, "Make the scale rather than patent" What if a company is already successfully established in a niche, but hasn't taken advantage of all of it's possible platforms and is in the process of line-extension to diffuse it's original branding? Can I, blunt and bold, take over that platform with a definition of a sub-niche that hasn't been established yet? And what will happen, when that (first on the market) company shows up on that platform, under which I am being categorized?

One percent of something is ALWAYS better than 100 percent of nothing...

One of the best startup video I've ever seen.

Re: the last question. The guy was worried his venture capitalists would be bent out of shape over his patent being stolen... I would have thought this alone would be a great pitch for his product. I mean, who would bother to try and copy a design that's no good? Kawasaki didn't make this point, though. Still, what an excellent and entertaining speaker. I am so glad I clicked on this video. This information couldn't have come at a better time. Thank you for uploading & thank you Guy! :-)