Wise Guy by Guy Kawasaki

Guy Kawasaki - Wise Guy - book cover

Recently I received a review copy of Guy Kawasaki latest book, Wise Guy. It is his 14th book and a biographical account of his life combined with tangible key learnings and little pieces of wisdom to be shared. I also reviewed The Art of the Start 2.0 a few years back, so I was happy to be a reviewer again.

As most of you know, Guy was chief evangelist of Apple and still keeps busy as an executive fellow at the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley, as a venture capitalist, chief evangelist of Canva and brand ambassador for Mercedes Benz in the U.S. Most importantly I think he is a heart warming personality with a clear vision and very tangible pieces of enlightenment to share… a wise guy indeed.

Guy’s most personal book yet

This book certainly is the most personal account of the many stories of his life and provides a new twist to his otherwise more educational insights into marketing, evangelism, technology, venture capital and entrepreneurship. Other than a traditional biography however, Wise Guy is more a collection of anecdotal vignettes, which he is calling Miso Soup for the Soul.

Most interesting parts of the book were his accounts of his career at Apple (although I already knew most of what is shared in the book) and how he did not lie to Steve Jobs, his encounter with Jane Goodall, his late developed passion for surfing as well as his insights about parenting among others.

Another interesting side note is his repeated recommendation of Brenda Ueland’s book “If you want to write” which I bought a few years back based on his referral. It was indeed one of the best book recommendation I ever got in regards to writing. Although it did not lead me to any publication yet, I started a daily journal based on her advice and created a substantial amount of random thoughts for save keeping. I tried this many times before, but for some reason, only Branda Ueland triggered me in a way that made the habit stick.

Guy’s Top 10 Wisdoms

Guy Kawasaki closes his latest book with his top 10 wisdoms, most of which are very well know to me from previous work or keynotes I watched:

  1. Get high and to the right
  2. Adopt a Growth Mindset
  3. Embrace grit
  4. Smile
  5. Default to Yes
  6. Raise the tide
  7. Pay it forward
  8. Examine Everything
  9. Never lie, seldom shade
  10. Enable people to pay you back

Although these might seem simple at first glance, I appreciate the deeper thoughts behind them and encourage you to check out the details. In contrast to previous works such as The Art of the Start or Enchantment, Wise Guy brings a new twist even for those who already follow Guy Kawasaki for a long time and is a nice addition to his body of work as an author. In a way it provides a more personal and intimate perspective on his life and endeavours.

I recommend checking out Wise Guy that will be available from February 26, 2019 and some of his many keynote speeches on Youtube, all of them being not just informative but quite entertaining. I am looking forward to whatever Guy Kawasaki might share next.

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