: Reality Check
Author: Guy Kawasaki
Pretty cool book of tips for entrepreneurs and startups. Nothing revolutionary, but lots of helpful advice on everything from wooing venture capitalists to hiring and firing staff. It’s all written in Guy’s entertaining and playful style with “top ten” lists and chapter titles like “Lies CEOs Tell.” There are stories and anecdotes, quizzes, and best of all, interviews with the authors of other books, so you get a glimpse into other topics (there’s even one chapter written by a lawyer who disagrees with some of Guy’s advice on patents). I thought at first the book would be slim and not that deep, but it’s actually quite extensive and broad, hitting on a wide variety of topics. I especially liked the ending, which featured several chapters on non-profits with some personal stories and interviews that were inspiring. And I loved Guy’s Baccalaureate speech on hindsights, a speech Guy has regularly given over the years. (If nothing else, just read that speech and you’ll get most of what you need from the book.) There were a few things I didn’t like: the main one was the use of a certain profane word for orifice that’s repeated like 100 times in one chapter on that topic, and the fact that some of the material is repetitive and feels stretched or padded to reach a certain book length. A condensed version of the book might be more appropriate for most people. But I still enjoyed this and appreciated Guy’s common sense approach to business and I learned a few things. I just hope I can remember them!
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