It is in this environment that Guy Kawasaki earned his chops as an entrepreneur. The former Apple evangelist, venture capitalist and founder of Internet ventures Truemors and Alltop, has distilled decades of experience in his latest book, Reality Check
The book is thick but you won’t find filler or superfluous content. The chapters are short and focused on very specific business topics, from how to send effective email, to how to deliver a presentation, to how to prepare an effective business plan, to how to make a pitch.
They are often written in a list-of-top-tips format that makes identifying the main takeaways easy. Also, since each chapter deals with a specific topic, you can read them in the order you want at any time.
Guy also enlisted the help of top experts to write some of the chapters, like Penelope Trunk on career advice or Garr Reynolds on presentation design, so you’ll be learning from the best.
If you’ve already read Guy’s other books or his blog, you may find some of the material repeated. However, the value of Reality Check is in the way the content has been organized and summarized, and enhanced with new material to form a cohesive volume that covers virtually every aspect of running a business.
If you want to be successful in the business world, either as an entrepreneur or as an employee, this book will definitely give you an edge. Highly recommended.
If Penelope Trunk wrote the career bits, then I must conclude the whole book is trash and worthless.
Hi Cody:
Discounting the whole book because we may disagree with some of its parts would be a mistake. I know that Ms Trunk can be very opinionated and sometimes her suggestions may fly against conventional wisdom. However, with some exceptions, I found her advice pretty sound. Career advice is a tricky subject because what works for some people may not work for others, so you always have to take advice with a grain of salt.