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The third book in my quest also doubles as the first book I had to read for school. There will be a few more of these (and a couple I read that I don’t count) but they probably won’t be as interesting as this one.

Guy Kawasaki is pretty well-regarded for what he does, which is basically tout the value of companies he likes. He started doing it at Apple and now he does it to help promising young companies raise venture money. I read a piece by him recently where he jokes about how often he gets mentioned as an entrepreneurial thought leader even though he’s never started a company. I’m willing to be that in private he’ll admit that he deserves a little more credit than that, because the things he shares can be eye-opening for people new to the game.

This book does a great job going over what needs to be in your DNA to start a new venture. It’s obviously written for the standard startup company, but we were supposed to read it as an instruction manual for non-profits/social enterprises. So, from that perspective, here are a couple passages I found enlightening:

Q. What is the starting point of evangelism?
A. The starting point is a great product or service (DICEE) that empowers people and improves their lives. Customers must be able to say, “This is good. This makes the world a better place.”

This comes from the first FAQ in chapter 5, “Make Evangelists, Not Sales.” Honestly, I could have copied this entire chapter because it’s that good and relevant to both for-profit and non-profit enterprises. When you can create evangelists you create salesmen. Only they’re salesmen who don’t want to get paid and feel as though it’s their duty to change the mind of anyone who disagrees. Sure, that could be annoying for the non-believers, but it’s great for you as the owner of the company.

This is a prime example of the principle, “Don’t ask, just watch.” When you ask people what they want, they think about how they should answer; they want to look smart; and they are influenced by what other people say.

I wanted to write a whole other blog post about this topic. I was gonna title it the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle of Marketing to prove by nerdiness and pontificate on my choice to study marketing when there is so much research out there that shows people are too messed up in the head to get anything worthwhile out of it. Oh well.

I’d say this is the best book I’ve read so far, but that’s mostly because of how directly it relates to the things that interest me. Also, I’m pretty sure I was the last person on this bandwagon so I doubt you haven’t read it if you’re interested in this space. However, if I’m wrong, let me try to be the final person to push you over the edge.

Rules For Revolutionaries: The Capitalist Manifesto for Creating and Marketing New Products and Services