Book Review: The Art of The Start

While sitting on Scoble's "Red Couch" on Sunday I noticed an interesting book under his coffee table called "The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide For Anyone Starting Anything". It is written by Guy Kawasaki (from garage.com fame) and should be essential reading to any entrepreneur who is starting up a new company. Every night as I was winding down I took a couple hours to relax and read this book. It was such an easy read that I finished it last night.

Guy does a great job in not only talking about what you need to do, it also gives good examples of what NOT to do. Personally I enjoyed his chapter on the "Art of Bootstrapping" the most. Mostly because he debunks the myth that you HAVE to go raise money when building a company to succeed. I have been trying to explain to some in my circle of influence about WHY I bootstrapped my latest company, and why I declined investment from some parties early in its inception. The days of funding vapourware are gone, and if you want a decent valuation for your company if and when you DO look for money, you need to have a working product with sales and a good pipeline. It's the old addage that when the VC's want to fund you, you don't need the money. Makes good sense. And done right, you might not actually NEED that type of money.

There are some interesting tidbits all through the book. If you are a CEO of a startup company, or are considering being one, you should really check out the book.

Good read. Really enjoyed it. Thanks for lending me the book Robert.