Guy Kawasaki’s book The Art of the Start should be required reading for anyone starting a new business initiative. As an entrepreneur and investor I’ve looked at hundreds of business plans. Few capture all the critical elements that a new venture needs to think about.
Kawasaki starts with his 10-20-30 rule. An investor presentation should have 10 slides, take 20 minutes, and be written in 30 point font. Kawasaki Hint: presentation font sizes should be no smaller than half the age of the oldest person you are presenting to.
More times that I can remember I’ve shared Kawasaki’s 10 elements of a business plan:
- Title
- Problem
- Solution
- Business model
- Underlying magic
- Marketing and sales
- Competition
- Team
- Projections
- Status and timeline
Kawasaki also gives invaluable insights into why writing a business plan is important, how to look at your market from both a bottom up and a top down perspective, branding, networking, and building buzz for your idea. As a former evangelist for Apple computers, Kawasaki shares what works in a compelling, readable, and relatively short book.
What new venture do you want to start today?
