Loy Machedo's Reviews > Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competit ion

There are rare moments when you come across a book that has so much of content, logic & wisdom squeezed into its pages, you do not feel you have done justice to the book by reading it just once. Books like The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, The Element by Sir Ken Robinson and Influence by Robert Cialdini. To my biggest surprise, I would be adding Guy Kawasaki to this list - at least for now.

Who is Guy Kawasaki
No, he is not the founder of Kawasaki Speed Bikes or the Owner of the Brand Kawasaki.
Guy Kawasaki born August 30, 1954 is a Silicon Valley author, speaker, investor and business advisor. He was one of the Apple employees originally responsible for marketing the Macintosh in 1984. He was also a co-founder of Garage Technology Ventures and a news aggregation site called Alltop. (Courtesy Wikipedia)

Among the 12 books he has authored, on Amazon.com the top 5 most reviewed are:
1. APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur - How to publish a book by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch,
2. Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions,
3. The Art of Start
4. What the Plus!: Google+ for the Rest of Us
5. Rules For Revolutionaries: The Capitalist Manifesto for Creating and Marketing New Products and Services by Guy Kawasaki and Michele Moreno

Reality Check - The Review
This book is a Must have Bible for anyone who wants to move into the Shark Infested Seas of Entrepreneurship. The book has 95 chapters - each one containing not one but many nuggets of valuable advice that if I were to start a detailed analysis, I will end up making this review itself into a book. However, I will just touch upon the overview of what stood out in my mind.

Kawasaki, includes in the book
1. How to raise money from Venture Capitalists
2. What to say and what not to say when in a business meeting with Potential Investors
3. Bullshit given by CEO's Partners, Investors, Lawyers & Entrepreneurs
4. Financial Plans, Predictions and Pitfalls of such exercises
5. How to cut down expenses
6. Tips on Branding, Social Media, Presentations, Networking, Blogging and Making Ideas Stick
7. Tips on Evangelizing, Selling, Handling PR, Sending Email Communication and Career Guidance
8. The Art of Schmoozing, Sucking Down, Sucking Up, Hiring, Firing, Defensibility and Dealing with Mavericks
9. Silicon Valley - Stuff you didn't know, how to get a job, Hiring, Firing,
10. Humorous yet profound bits on Bozo Explosion, The No-Asshole Rule, Being an Egomaniac and Why Smart People & Smart Companies do Dumb Things

Phew!

I know. That in itself is quite a lot. So imagine what would you say after you had read this book?

So moment of truth
You must buy this book even if you are not planning to start your own business. Why?
Because this book really makes you think and gives you the street smart and the wisdom you wish someone had shared with you at some point of your life.

Overall Rating - 9 out of 10

Loy Machedo
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