Guy Kawasaki Review

Guy has a Stanford University BA degree, an MBA from UCLA and a Babson College honorary doctorate.

When he was just starting though, Guy emphasized that neither he nor his family was born rich. He related that they used to live in the tough part of Honolulu, specifically Kalihi Valley.

Though they were not at all rich, there was never an instance where he felt poor as his parents made a lot of sacrifices for him and his sister.

Guy’s mother was a housewife and his father worked once as a fireman, then as a real estate broker, after which became a state senator and later on a government official.

In 1972, Guy graduated from Iolani School. He later on matriculated to Stanford University and graduated in 1976 where he majored in Psychology (primarily because Guy felt it was the easiest major he could possibly find).

Guy later on attended the UC Davis law school mainly because – like most children of Asian American parents – his folks felt he needed to be a lawyer, dentist or doctor. However, Guy only made it through the program for one week as he felt he was unable to deal with law school teachers who told him he was crap and that ne needed to be remade.

Guy then entered UCLA’s MBA program and liked the university’s curriculum a lot better. He also worked for Nova Stylings – a fine-jewelry manufacturer. Guy describes his first job as the only time he was literally counting diamonds. He also credits his Nova experience as the one responsible for teaching him how to sell as Guy explains that the jewelry business is the toughest he has ever encountered.

Guy later on worked with EduWare – an educational software company. His friend then managed to get him a job at Apple where he realized the magnificence and brilliance of the Macintosh computer. For a full four years, Guy was involved in leading the charge against IBM’s then goal of world-wide domination.

In 1987, Guy left Apple and started his own Macintosh database company he called ACIUS. He stayed on for two years until he decided to pursue his love for writing, consulting and speaking.

He also started Fog City Software – another software company – with three of his friends wherein they created the Emailer (an email product he later sold to Claris). He also made LetterRip, a list server product.

He came back to Apple in 1995 as an Apple Fellow. His job then was to rejuvenate and maintain the cult of the Macintosh.

After a few years, he again left Apple and began Garage Technology Ventures with Rich Karlgaard and Craig Johnson.

The Garage Version 1.0 is specially designed to offer matchmaking services for entrepreneurs and angel investors. Meanwhile, its 2.0 version was made to aid entrepreneurs raise money from venture capitalists. Its 3.0 version is solely centered on being a venture capital firm as well as making direct investments in technology companies at their early stages.

Do note that despite most of Guy Kawasaki’s ventures as not about internet marketing, he has enough experience to know valuable details about the subject.

Currently, besides being Garage’s founding partner and a co-founder of Alltop (an online magazine), Guy has his hands full being a father, husband, speaker, author and hockey addict.

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