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Kawasaki on Why Your Startup is Dead if You Can’t Enchant

96 points by ValentineC 13y ago

gatsby 13y ago
Not directly related to this particular article, but these First Round Review posts are fantastic. No affiliation with First Round here, but I highly recommend subscribing to their newsletters if you're at a tech company. Whether you're a junior engineer or a senior business exec, there's something for everyone: From board meetings (http://firstround.com/article/The-Secret-to-Making-Board-Meetings-Suck-Less http://firstround.com/article/The-Secret-to-Making-Board-Mee...) ...to equity grants (http://firstround.com/article/The-Right-Way-to-Grant-Equity-to-Your-Employees http://firstround.com/article/The-Right-Way-to-Grant-Equity-...) ...to product thoughts (http://firstround.com/article/42-Rules-to-Lead-by-from-the-Man-Who-Defined-Googles-Product-Strategy http://firstround.com/article/42-Rules-to-Lead-by-from-the-M...) They're really nailing it.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
jmduke 13y ago
I was kinda iffy going into this article: I like Guy Kawasaki's stuff a lot, but it can tend to be a bit on the fluffy side, and "enchant" is one of those words that sends shivers down my back. Still, the actual meat and bones of his definition of 'enchanting' is solid and goes into a level of granularity significantly more actionable than "figure out a way to get your users to spend ridiculous amounts of time on your app, just like Twitter and Facebook did."
- interstitial 13y ago
  I think we've moved into the post-enchantment era, where non-enchanting, ping-anxiety is king. People are addicted to the social feedback.
  - AsymetricCom 13y ago
    Those are not the kind of customers you want, long term.
    - jbigelow76 13y ago
      You only need them long enough milk a few billion dollars out of some other sucker.
moron4hire 13y ago
Your startup is more likely dead because you're comparing yourself to Facebook, not because it's not enchanting. There are a gazillion and a half CMS operations out there, and they all seem to make enough money to keep going. CMS is not enchanting. Not even Medium. If you want to be successful, look to be sustainable, not play the business lottery like Twitter and SnapChat. And the rest of the advise in here is just pat. People will be more likely to buy from you if they like you? You don't say! You should anticipate problems ahead of time? Well I'll be! Why is your business failing? It's probably because you don't understand your customers. It's probably because you never talked to them in the first place. Here is an exercise that actually works: go outside. Go to the nearest local business you can find. Talk to a person who works there, bonus if it's the owner. Browse the store. Introduce yourself. Make up a story about being new to the neighborhood and needing a shower head or something if you have to. Get them talking about themselves. Ask them how long they have been there. Establish a repoir. Pay attention. People will tell you the problems they have. They are always looking for a solution. Just listen, and you will discover it. No, you can't do it from your desk. Get on your feet and go outside. In half an hour of talking to a real, potential customer, you'll have more good business ideas than from 6 months of sitting around with your partners brainstorming ideas. Then do it again. Make this your Saturday morning habit. Go to every coffee shop or dog grooming business or what have you in your area and talk to anyone you can. Be "that" guy who talks to strangers in public places. It works. I'll even save you a little time and tell you what people don't want: They don't want computers. Whatever they like doing, it's most likely not anything called "computing" and they just want more time to do that thing but find themselves too often distracted by "computing" to do it.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- ivanplenty 13y ago
  Agree on whole comment and about the need to connect with customers, but there is a subtlety with this line I would ask you caveat: > Whatever they like doing, it's most likely not anything called "computing" and they just want more time to do that thing but find themselves too often distracted by "computing" to do it. You're right, but unfortunately there are a lot of instances where the data initially shows otherwise. One naive way of looking at Google glass, for example, is that the early adopters did want wearable computing... and from that conclusion other electronics manufactures should make more types of wearables: watches, pedometers, shoes, etc. Surprise, surprise... many of the wearables have failed (looking at you Samsung) despite based heavily on the initial market research because they didn't actually do anything useful.
mathattack 13y ago
I liked his practical comments on how to manage upwards. Execute for your boss, do quicker prototypes, and give bad news fast.
- interstitial 13y ago
  Yes, you don't often find articles directed at underlings on HN. That's old school Napoleon Hill.
  - mathattack 13y ago
    Some of the best client service advice I was given was along this vein. "If you want the client to trust you, do everything they give you a little better and a little faster than they expect. They will trust you with more work, and eventually will trust your advice."
soneca 13y ago
I found it interesting that I agree a lot with the title and disagree a lot with all the rest of the article. First: "There are studies funded to measure hand firmness and eye contact because they're indicators of authenticity and enthusiasm." Really?? I understand the importance for the CEO to be likable, even if he is an asshole. Steve Jobs had that precisely because of his authenticity and enthusiasm. But why make such an effort on faking it if you can be it?? What a sad life to fake evey handshake. Authenticity must need a bit of practice, because we are kind of trained to "lie to please". But with some diligence, one can start to be a little more self-confident and authentic, caring less about others might think (see that this the exact opposite of faking handshakes?). And enthusiasm should be natural too. If you are not enthusiastic with the product you are creating, you shouldn't be creating it. Or at least you should expect and accept that it will no "enchant" anyone and work hard to be just profitable. If I understood it correctly, the first part of the text tell to "dress to match your audience" and practice your handshakes in order to be more authentic. In other words, go through a great length of faking to be authentic. That was just a weird advice. I will try to enchant, be authentic and enthusiastic by rejecting every advice Kawasaki gave here. I think it is the logical thing to do.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- goldenkey 13y ago
  I agree. I'd say the real lesson to learn here is to be _observant_ of your handshakes and other social acclimates. All of those things will appear confident if you practice awareness and true fulfillment and backing of what you are doing. Deception and deceit, ulterior motives, are what _kill_ genuineness. So put your mind in the positive zone when meeting potential partners. They may want to take you for a ride but probably less so if they like you. And thus, perception without deflection, is a true rule of executive sportsmanship.
AndrewKemendo 13y ago
Much of this is great advice and I really like the idea of the pre-mortem. The only issue I have with this article is the point about not going to the C suite. I think that can be true of many services, especially ones that are free or low cost so that the users are actually building the momentum and can adopt the product at their level. Where it falls short is when you need a strategic partner or if you are looking for a big enterprise sale. The middle and lower levels provide the execs with the validation and market fit but don't have the authority to make those kinds of purchases, so you are largely wasting your time if the executives are not in the room.
ojbyrne 13y ago
Kind of interesting, considering that PageMaker got killed by QuarkXPress, and Aldus is no longer with us.
pshin45 13y ago
If you liked this article, you should also check out his hour-long talk at Stanford (March 2011) which touches on many of the same topics while going into a bit more depth: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2669 http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2669
vertr07 13y ago
People still listen to Kawasaki after he became a human spam-bot on every social media outlet?
asibehar 13y ago
As head of SW Engineering for that video company offering the rev split, I just wanted to point out that the Eepybird video linked earlier in the article (Diet Coke and Mentos fountain), actually launched exclusively on Revver and financial reward was one of the big motivations for their decision to release it on Revver instead of Youtube. In fact, they filed numerous DMCA takedowns for all the unauthorized uploads to Youtube. There are numerous other examples of the same occurring with other creators. While I do agree that financial motivations are usually less compelling than social and ego-driven motivators, there are times in an industry's evolution where they do matter, especially in trying to establish a new professional class. Would Lyft, Sidecar, and UberX drivers exist for fame and glory alone? Revver was about a lot more than the just the rev-split - we were building an open network that rewarded video creators for their efforts and sought to let them to make a living performing the craft they loved.

96 points by ValentineC 13y ago

Not directly related to this particular article, but these First Round Review posts are fantastic. No affiliation with First Round here, but I highly recommend subscribing to their newsletters if you're at a tech company. Whether you're a junior engineer or a senior business exec, there's something for everyone: From board meetings (http://firstround.com/article/The-Secret-to-Making-Board-Meetings-Suck-Less http://firstround.com/article/The-Secret-to-Making-Board-Mee...) ...to equity grants (http://firstround.com/article/The-Right-Way-to-Grant-Equity-to-Your-Employees http://firstround.com/article/The-Right-Way-to-Grant-Equity-...) ...to product thoughts (http://firstround.com/article/42-Rules-to-Lead-by-from-the-Man-Who-Defined-Googles-Product-Strategy http://firstround.com/article/42-Rules-to-Lead-by-from-the-M...) They're really nailing it.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

jmduke 13y ago

I was kinda iffy going into this article: I like Guy Kawasaki's stuff a lot, but it can tend to be a bit on the fluffy side, and "enchant" is one of those words that sends shivers down my back. Still, the actual meat and bones of his definition of 'enchanting' is solid and goes into a level of granularity significantly more actionable than "figure out a way to get your users to spend ridiculous amounts of time on your app, just like Twitter and Facebook did."

interstitial 13y ago
I think we've moved into the post-enchantment era, where non-enchanting, ping-anxiety is king. People are addicted to the social feedback.
- AsymetricCom 13y ago
  Those are not the kind of customers you want, long term.
  - jbigelow76 13y ago
    You only need them long enough milk a few billion dollars out of some other sucker.

moron4hire 13y ago

Your startup is more likely dead because you're comparing yourself to Facebook, not because it's not enchanting. There are a gazillion and a half CMS operations out there, and they all seem to make enough money to keep going. CMS is not enchanting. Not even Medium. If you want to be successful, look to be sustainable, not play the business lottery like Twitter and SnapChat. And the rest of the advise in here is just pat. People will be more likely to buy from you if they like you? You don't say! You should anticipate problems ahead of time? Well I'll be! Why is your business failing? It's probably because you don't understand your customers. It's probably because you never talked to them in the first place. Here is an exercise that actually works: go outside. Go to the nearest local business you can find. Talk to a person who works there, bonus if it's the owner. Browse the store. Introduce yourself. Make up a story about being new to the neighborhood and needing a shower head or something if you have to. Get them talking about themselves. Ask them how long they have been there. Establish a repoir. Pay attention. People will tell you the problems they have. They are always looking for a solution. Just listen, and you will discover it. No, you can't do it from your desk. Get on your feet and go outside. In half an hour of talking to a real, potential customer, you'll have more good business ideas than from 6 months of sitting around with your partners brainstorming ideas. Then do it again. Make this your Saturday morning habit. Go to every coffee shop or dog grooming business or what have you in your area and talk to anyone you can. Be "that" guy who talks to strangers in public places. It works. I'll even save you a little time and tell you what people don't want: They don't want computers. Whatever they like doing, it's most likely not anything called "computing" and they just want more time to do that thing but find themselves too often distracted by "computing" to do it.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
ivanplenty 13y ago
Agree on whole comment and about the need to connect with customers, but there is a subtlety with this line I would ask you caveat: > Whatever they like doing, it's most likely not anything called "computing" and they just want more time to do that thing but find themselves too often distracted by "computing" to do it. You're right, but unfortunately there are a lot of instances where the data initially shows otherwise. One naive way of looking at Google glass, for example, is that the early adopters did want wearable computing... and from that conclusion other electronics manufactures should make more types of wearables: watches, pedometers, shoes, etc. Surprise, surprise... many of the wearables have failed (looking at you Samsung) despite based heavily on the initial market research because they didn't actually do anything useful.

mathattack 13y ago

I liked his practical comments on how to manage upwards. Execute for your boss, do quicker prototypes, and give bad news fast.

interstitial 13y ago
Yes, you don't often find articles directed at underlings on HN. That's old school Napoleon Hill.
- mathattack 13y ago
  Some of the best client service advice I was given was along this vein. "If you want the client to trust you, do everything they give you a little better and a little faster than they expect. They will trust you with more work, and eventually will trust your advice."

soneca 13y ago

I found it interesting that I agree a lot with the title and disagree a lot with all the rest of the article. First: "There are studies funded to measure hand firmness and eye contact because they're indicators of authenticity and enthusiasm." Really?? I understand the importance for the CEO to be likable, even if he is an asshole. Steve Jobs had that precisely because of his authenticity and enthusiasm. But why make such an effort on faking it if you can be it?? What a sad life to fake evey handshake. Authenticity must need a bit of practice, because we are kind of trained to "lie to please". But with some diligence, one can start to be a little more self-confident and authentic, caring less about others might think (see that this the exact opposite of faking handshakes?). And enthusiasm should be natural too. If you are not enthusiastic with the product you are creating, you shouldn't be creating it. Or at least you should expect and accept that it will no "enchant" anyone and work hard to be just profitable. If I understood it correctly, the first part of the text tell to "dress to match your audience" and practice your handshakes in order to be more authentic. In other words, go through a great length of faking to be authentic. That was just a weird advice. I will try to enchant, be authentic and enthusiastic by rejecting every advice Kawasaki gave here. I think it is the logical thing to do.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
goldenkey 13y ago
I agree. I'd say the real lesson to learn here is to be _observant_ of your handshakes and other social acclimates. All of those things will appear confident if you practice awareness and true fulfillment and backing of what you are doing. Deception and deceit, ulterior motives, are what _kill_ genuineness. So put your mind in the positive zone when meeting potential partners. They may want to take you for a ride but probably less so if they like you. And thus, perception without deflection, is a true rule of executive sportsmanship.

AndrewKemendo 13y ago

Much of this is great advice and I really like the idea of the pre-mortem. The only issue I have with this article is the point about not going to the C suite. I think that can be true of many services, especially ones that are free or low cost so that the users are actually building the momentum and can adopt the product at their level. Where it falls short is when you need a strategic partner or if you are looking for a big enterprise sale. The middle and lower levels provide the execs with the validation and market fit but don't have the authority to make those kinds of purchases, so you are largely wasting your time if the executives are not in the room.

ojbyrne 13y ago

Kind of interesting, considering that PageMaker got killed by QuarkXPress, and Aldus is no longer with us.

pshin45 13y ago

If you liked this article, you should also check out his hour-long talk at Stanford (March 2011) which touches on many of the same topics while going into a bit more depth: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2669 http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2669

vertr07 13y ago

People still listen to Kawasaki after he became a human spam-bot on every social media outlet?

asibehar 13y ago

As head of SW Engineering for that video company offering the rev split, I just wanted to point out that the Eepybird video linked earlier in the article (Diet Coke and Mentos fountain), actually launched exclusively on Revver and financial reward was one of the big motivations for their decision to release it on Revver instead of Youtube. In fact, they filed numerous DMCA takedowns for all the unauthorized uploads to Youtube. There are numerous other examples of the same occurring with other creators. While I do agree that financial motivations are usually less compelling than social and ego-driven motivators, there are times in an industry's evolution where they do matter, especially in trying to establish a new professional class. Would Lyft, Sidecar, and UberX drivers exist for fame and glory alone? Revver was about a lot more than the just the rev-split - we were building an open network that rewarded video creators for their efforts and sought to let them to make a living performing the craft they loved.