Talk to The Art of the Start 2.0 like its author wrote you back.
Get the ideas that fit your life — not generic summaries.
- Chat with the book
- Audiobook-style main ideas
- Adapts to your life and goals
- Helps you take action
What it argues
The Art of the Start 2.0 is Guy Kawasaki's updated guide to launching a company, product, or movement. The original came out in 2004 when Kawasaki was still best known as Apple's original software evangelist. The 2015 revision updates the startup landscape to include social media, crowdfunding, and a post-iPhone product environment. The core advice, though, remains the same: start making something, figure out the pitch, and don't wait until everything is perfect.
Kawasaki's approach is organized around the stages of a startup: defining a meaningful reason to exist beyond money, building a team, crafting a pitch, fundraising, and scaling. His pitch framework is the 10/20/30 rule — ten slides, twenty minutes, thirty-point font — which has circulated independently of the book and has become something of a standard. The underlying principle is that investors are trying to disqualify you as fast as possible, so clarity and brevity work in your favor.
What it gets right
- 1.
Start with a meaningful reason to exist beyond profit. Companies that articulate a clear mission attract better employees, inspire customer loyalty, and make harder decisions more easily.
- 2.
The 10/20/30 rule for pitches: ten slides, twenty minutes, thirty-point font minimum. Most pitch decks are too long, too detailed, and too small to read under pressure.
- 3.
Launch before you're ready. Imperfect products in the market generate feedback that no internal review will surface. Waiting for perfection typically means waiting forever.
What it covers
Who wrote it
Guy Kawasaki is an American entrepreneur, author, and venture capitalist who served as chief evangelist at Apple in the 1980s, where he helped launch the Macintosh. He later co-founded Garage.com, an early internet-era venture fund, and has served as chief evangelist for Canva. He is the author of more than fifteen books on entrepreneurship, marketing, and innovation, and is a frequent speaker on startup and technology topics. The Art of the Start, first published in 2004, remains one of the most widely read practical guides for early-stage founders.
