I have to admit, I was even more “stoked” when I realized that I’m already well on track and can proudly say that I can check off a number of his suggestions as being followed. I've been pumped up ever since I returned from this event and even banged out 3 articles on the ferry ride home and then worked at the PC until about 2 AM this morning. I either had way too much coffee (4 visits to Starbucks!) or Guy's session was like a shot of Viagra for the entrepreneurial mind!

Attendees of the Autodesk Realize Your Ideas Tour in Vancouver, BC were pleasantly surprised (and 'Wowed") by special presenter Guy Kawasaki. In his opening session Kawasaki shared with us his recipe for success to be a successful entrepreneur. In typical Top 10 fashion he shared these 10 requirements:

1. Make meaning not money – increase your quality of life and in doing so try and prevent the end of something good. Don’s simply set out to make $
2. Make a Mantra – don’t simply focus all your time, efforts and money on developing a lengthy mission statement (until you’ve made millions) Instead, work out a 3 word mantra (Our mantra at GISuser is of course… Taking you beyond the map!)
3. Jump to the next curve – don’t be afraid of polarizing people and be sure to create great stuff!
4. Get Going - Prototype don’t hype, ship then test, don’t worry… be crappy! What he means here is develop a revolution and get it out the door. If you wait for perfection you’ll likely wait too long.
5. Niche Thyself – focus on the ability to provide a unique product and something that adds value to the customer
6. Let 100 flowers blossom – be eager to have people use your product in ways you never imagined… don’t be too proud
7. Follow the 10/20/30 rule – the number of optimal power point slides in any presentation is 10; pitch your slides in less than 20 minutes; use 30 point font
8. Hire infected People – you need people that have a love for your product. Forget about the PHDs and hire better than yourself
9. Lower Barriers to adoption – flatten that learning curve and don’t ask people to do something that you wouldn’t do.
10. Don’t let the “Bozos” drag you down – Watch out for the rich dude in the BMW wearing the big, shiny gold watch! These are the guys that will say “it can’t be done”. Guy used a fine example… a few years ago he passed on a job interview because he felt it was a poor use of time to drive such a long way for a long shot… the position was as CEO of a company called Yahoo!

So there you have it… Guy Kawasaki’s recipe for success and suggestion that “You Make Meaning”… makes sense to me! In closing he wisely noted… “People tend to obsess about their mistakes. Look at the upside. Don’t be a Bozo.” Obviously, given this was an Autodesk hosted event, the examples and analogies used in the presentation were focused on CAD and digital design, however, this list could be/should be applied to pretty much any business.

Note: Kawasaki is the author of the book “Art of the Start”… I would have bought a copy on location had they been for sale… I suggest you do so if you’re striving for success – See http://www.guykawasaki.com/books/index.shtml

About Guy: Guy Kawasaki is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm and a columnist for Forbes.com.

Did-U-Know - Guy Kawasaki is credited with inspiring Autodesk's Lynn Allen to adopt the title "Evangelist". According to Guy, the evangelist is the one who "brings the good news"

Check out my GISuser Flickr PhotoBlog for some images from Vancouver! And... stay tuned for more from the event including a summary of Lynn Allen's suggested Tips & Tricks