I saw this Dilbert the other day and thought it was hilarious:

(Click image to get full view)

Now, as you all know, this doesn’t happen in the real world. There were a few who got lucky and stumbled across venture capitalists that practiced business like this in the late 90’s. But we all know how these VC’s ended up. Broke and back to reality.

Check out this graph from PricewaterhouseCooper’s ‘Money Tree Report’ to see how ridiculous VC funding was back in 2000:

The proper technique to gain venture capital investment is just one of the various topics that Guy Kawasaki discusses in his book, ‘The Art of The Start’, which could be considered the ‘start-up’ owners manual for entrepreneurs.

Guy, who has two decades of business experience (including being the current managing director for Garage Technology Ventures, a venture capital firm), dives into topics such as: the art of writing the business plan, pitching your idea, and recruiting talent to help your business grow. The book should have had a label on the front: 100% No Fluff. As most business books can be heavy on theory and light on practical advice, Guy Kawasaki’s stears away from this common practice. Instead, he provides his advice in a usable format for all levels of entrepreneurs.“The Art of The Start” should be your first read when deciding to start your own business.

Check out Guy’s blog “Signum sine tinnitu”, a top 100 Technorati blog!

Search. Email. Digitized Books. RSS Reader. Advertising. Google seems to have their hands on almost every area of Internet technology, and no matter what Yahoo or Microsoft think, they won’t be toppled (Speaking of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer needs to step down, read his latest quixotic speech- I feel for you Microsoft shareholders). Want to know the story behind the success?



“The Google Story”by David A. Vise (who ironically looks like Bill Gates) gives the inside details about Sergey Brin and Larry Page’s travels from Stanford to success. For an avid enthusiast of Google’s products, this book won’t let you down!

Check out the book’s website were you can take the GLAT or Google Lab’s Aptitude Test. Here is a sample question:

In your opinion, what is the most beautiful math equation ever derived?

My answer: a + b = c.

Once you make the leap from worker to supervisor, your leadership responsibilities change. Instead of being the one who needs to be rallied, you will be doing the rallying. Now, you may be thinking ‘That’s obvious!”, and it is. Why then do many fail to embrace these new responsibilities? When placed in a supervisory position, it’s your duty to promote a culture which achieves results. That’s exactly what “Revved!: An Incredible Way To Rev Up Your Workplace And Achieve Amazing Results” by Harry Paul & Ross Reck, Ph.D have set out to explain. Through the characters and storyline we get introduced to 3 steps for achieving success:



• Winning Them Over - You have to care – and at first if you don’t, then act like you do!
• Blow Them Away – Single out people who’ve gone the extra mile for you – express your appreciation in a way you never have.
• Keeping Them Revved – Be consistent in your daily actions; Follow the first two steps and make them a part of your routine!

A key quote that stuck out to me was:

“Looking out for others is really looking out for yourself.”

This book also made me wonder why sometimes it’s hard to show sincere gratitude towards those who do help us? It’s something you don’t see enough in the workplace. Show someone that you appreciate what they’ve done for you recently. Not only will it make the other person feel appreciated, it will make you feel good as well. A win-win situation! Go rev your employees!

Have you written in your WUP lately?



Surely that question makes no sense, but after reading “The Radical Edge” by Steve Farber it will. His previous book, “The Radical Leap” taught us the LEAP principle. This time Steve provides the steps to reaching the Radical Edge:

• Writing in your WUP
• Stoking Your Business

“Do what you love in the service of people who love what you do”

• Amp Your Life

“Find your frequency”

• Change Your World

“Define what you mean by ‘world’ and get clear on how you want that world to be different from the current reality”

Through his entertaining, and humorous writing we are shown how to apply each of these principles to our lives. If you feel you are in a personal ‘rut’ this book will surely give you the tools to break out of it, and move to the Radical Edge.