Guy Kawasaki, a favorite at any time and now with his new book that I reviewed (also here on Blogcritics), The Art of the Start, gave generously of his time and sat down for our virtual interview. Guy approached the interview relaxed, as I had asked, because he told me, that's pretty much his natural state, and after reading through his answers, that relaxed and easy-going demeanor come across clearly, but I also see that je ne sais quoi or thing (in plain English) that has made Kawasaki such a tremendous success, to be specific his incredible candor and forthrightness combined with his wit, wisdom, and charm, all of which he shared with me so that I may now share it with you. Tune in for a casual conversation with Guy Kawasaki and when you're done, rush out and buy his books because not only are they well-written and smart, but the writing conveys the same straight-forwardness and no nonsense attitude with which he approached this interview. Here, at last, are books from someone who has made it to the top and unlike so many, is not threatened by new or smarter talent, but indeed welcomes it. It's about time someone like Guy Kawasaki came along, and thank god, because he came just in time. Read this, check out his new book The Art of the Start and his other, Rules for Revolutionaries (you can buy them at the bottom here) and get out there and take on the world with the verve and spirit you know you have. My questions are in bold, answers below. Welcome to the world as seen by Guy Kawasaki.

Sadi H. Ranson-Polizzotti

Tell me what you were like as a child - what I want to know is this: did you always think of yourself as different as kid and have some sense of what you would do, and if so, what was it you envisioned yourself doing?

As I recall, I was a pain in the ass. I wish I had given my mother fewer problems. I never got into serious trouble, but I was, shall I say, "extremely outgoing."

If you had some sense of what it was, how did you set about becoming that person or achieving that goal?

There was nothing dramatic about my early years. I grew up in a lower-middle class family in a tough part of Hawaii. I was just a normal kid who blew up firecrackers, played in the ditch, shot birds with a bb gun, and loved to eat sweets. I didn't have a lemonade stand at 8, didn't have a paper route, nothing, nada. There was certainly no foreshadowing of things to come. Luckily, there was an elementary school teacher who pushed my parents to send me to private school, so I went to one of the finest schools in Hawaii. I got a fantastic high school education. I was the co-winner of the scholar-athlete award in my senior year. Honestly, thing I loved about high school the most was playing football.

What was your first ever job in the industry in which you really built your reputation?

 My first real job was counting diamonds for a Los Angeles jewelry manufacturer. I stayed at the company about five years and eventually became the vice president of sales and marketing. It was no small feat to get this far in a Jewish family-owned company. To this day, I speak more Yiddish than Japanese.

Tell me about being an Apple Fellow - did you work with Steve Jobs a lot, and if so, what sorts of things did you do at Apple?

I worked for Apple twice: 1984-1987 and 1995-1997. I guess this means I leave Apple every ten years. The first time I was the software evangelist for the Macintosh Division. My job was to get companies to write software for a computer with no installed base, no hard disk, no slots, no color, and not enough RAM. The second tour of duty was the fellowship. This time my job was to sustain the Macintosh cult since the so-called experts had predicted, yet again, that Apple was going to die. I left a few months after Steve returned to Apple to start Garage.

Your book is very sure about the guidance it gives those who are looking to start something, and that's pretty much anything -- did you know all of this when you started your own company, or is a lot of this lessons you've learnt along the way?

You're kidding, right? I knew almost nothing when I started my first company. People should not think that my book is about how I did everything right because this is just not true. I did many things wrong--and one purpose of my book is to enable people to not repeat my mistakes.

What did you do to keep Garage afloat and not sink with the dot.com boom?

There are two reasons why we didn't sink: first, we had raised a lot of money and not squandered it away; second, we changed our business model from primarily investment banking to primarily venture capital investing. We are, by the way, not yet proven as a venture capital firm.

What exactly does your company do (I read the release, but others will want to know more detail)? What kinds of businesses do you help fund - or is it more just that the business be a good business, regardless of field or industry?

We are an early-stage investor in technology companies. Unlike 99% of venture capitalists, we are looking for unproven teams with unproven technology with unproven revenue models. Why? Because what I just described describes Yahoo, Cisco, Google, and Apple.

What is the number one mistake you think most people make when starting anything? It seemed to me that the Make Meaning was a big one, that too many people didn't have a handle on that - but what do you think?

The fundamental mistake that most entrepreneurs make is that they convince themselves that sales will happen way faster than they do. This causes companies to run out of money. As a rule of thumb, no matter how "conservative" entrepreneurs think they are, we assume that sales will take twice as long and be half as much.

Can you tell me what the Mantra and the Tagline are for your company?

It's one and the same: "We start up startups." My personal mantra is "Empower entrepreneurs."

When you are looking at what kind of company to fund or back, what do you look for in the leader(s) of the company? In short, I'm asking, do you look for a real "revolutionary" and if so, what qualities does a revolutionary have in your view?

Truth be told, most revolutions and revolutionaries are only obvious after they've been successful. Most of the time, looking back, you would ask, "Who would have guessed that this would have been so successful?" So in reality, what you do is you take a lot of shots, hope some are successful, and only talk about those. That is, the ones you "knew" were going to be revolutionary. You bury, ignore, and deny the ones you "knew" weren't.

A friend once told me that most successful companies have someone slightly crazy at the helm and then another person to balance that and the slightly nutty or eccentric one is often the front person, while the other takes care of business in the background. I've run companies myself and was always told it worked because I was eccentric - which was true to some extent. What is your opinion on this? Do you have to be slightly nuts to make it work?

Looking back, it may be that having a slightly crazy person and a sane person is the right combination, but this isn't an actionable strategy. That is, you wouldn't therefore purposely go and hire a nut case. Many nut cases fail too. What you should strive for is a team of people with different strengths and perspectives, not a bunch of nodding heads. Don't go out and find one sane person and one insane person and think that's necessarily a winning combination.

 If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I wish I could skate better. I took up ice hockey at 48 years old, having never skated before in my life. If I worked as hard at writing as playing hockey, I'd win a Pulitzer.

That said, what would you say is the quality you have that is most responsible for your own success? I realize it's always a combination, but I'm curious about what you think most worked for you.

I work more intensely than most people. Not necessarily longer or harder, but I can focus, see through crap, and get things done.

Do you work all the time - long hours, do you think that's healthy or do you feel that a balance of life and work is key to a company's success?

I am constantly answering email, but I do not work long hours. That's for younger people who don't have lives. I have three startups: two sons and a daughter. They are most important to me. I can count on one hand how many times I've been into the office on a weekend. But I do answer email 365 days a year. Building a company is a process, not an event, so I no longer believe in working 80 hours a week for short bursts. For one thing, when you're at the office 80 hours a week, most of the time you're just cocking around anyway. Get in, do the work, and get out is my philosophy.

 Do you still work with Apple at all - or do you strictly work for yourself at this point?

I stand in line just like anyone else and pay full retail for Apple stuff.

Give me three quick rules for revolutionaries that will help guide people who haven't yet read your other book, or a quick revolutionary screening test - like, if you can say Yes to these three or four questions, then you're a revolutionary:

There is no such test. Anyone who tells you that they can determine if a person is a revolutionary in three to four questions is delusional. There's good reason that most people who are considered "revolutionary" are dead.

What makes YOU, Guy Kawasaki, a revolutionary - do you see yourself this way, because that's how others view you, clearly. Tell me about that.

In a rare moment of humility, let me say that I do not view myself as a revolutionary. I understand revolutions. I think I can recognize one when presented with it. I can help others create and implement revolutions. But I am not a revolutionary myself. This is not unlike coaching: you don't have to be a great athlete to be a great coach.

What is the ONE thing that a person who wants to run a company absolutely should NOT do? Here, I'm asking for the biggest no - It could even be a personality trait.

The one thing you should not do is fail to hire people who are better than yourself. A players hire A+ players. B players hire C players. C players hire D players and so on.

Sadi Just Had to Know Questions:

Is there any one person in history, living or dead, whom you most admire?

It's a tie: Brett Hull and Bobby Orr. Hull because of his shot. Orr because of how he seized offensive opportunities. If any of your readers know either of them, I hope they tell them they're my heroes.

Which book or two books have most influenced you in life?

If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland and Uncommon Genius by Denise Shekerjian. These books are indispensable for entrepreneurs.

What's on your desk at the time of this interview: itemized list, please.

1. I'm sitting on a United Airlines 757 going from SFO to DEN.

2. On my tray table is a G4 PowerBook, iPod, fruit plate, and bag of pretzels.

3. On my ears is a Bose noise canceling headphone.

What books are you currently reading/ what books are next to your bed for night reading?

I bought the new Michael Crichton book, State of Fear, at the airport bookstore, but I don't have time to read it because I promised you that I would answer your interview questions. I'm not a literary elitist. I like books (and movies) where the good guys blow up the bad guys.

What's your next book about? Do you know yet? Have you begun it?

It will be about $25 and will cover whatever I can get a big advance for. I don't even know if there will be a next book, but I've said that seven times since my first book.

If I want to be funded by you, what is the one thing in your book that I could do that would make the most difference? Create a product that I would love to have.

 What's the best Mantra and Tagline you've ever heard or seen (can be different companies, but be sure to site the company for each.

The best mantra I ever heard is from a company called Reliable Technologies. Its mantra is "Fix Windows."

sadi ranson-polizzotti

this article first appeared on Blogcritics