The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything

I read this book 20 years ago. Back then I was starting a company, and it seemed like the perfect book.

Today, I’m considering starting a non-profit, so I figured I’d read it again. The book says that it’s applicable to anything you might start, so…

No. This is a book about starting businesses. Specifically, businesses where you probably need investment. After a famous stint at Apple, Kawasaki became a venture capitalist, and that’s fundamentally what the book is about: how to get investment for something.

It’s not a bad book, but in many ways, it’s just a book about business itself. Some of the chapters:

• The Art of Recruiting
• The Art of Pitching
• The Art of Branding

And so on. Honestly, the book is a really good, super-high level of review of how to run any company. He covers all the bases – some coverage of everything you need to know is in here.

I did get a little annoyed with his attitude towards experienced people. He very much promotes the “young, broke, and hungry” mentality. He paints anyone with some experience as lazy and expensive, which is a little tiresome. (Apparently we all fly first class everywhere? Who knew?!)

The book doesn’t really go very deep on anything. For some people, this is exactly what they need.