The “dot.com” craze may have lost its luster, but Guy Kawasaki, former Apple chief evangelist and current startup consultant, is keeping busy as he tours the country telling how to launch a technology company.
And, yes, he’s still a Mac fan and thinks that Apple will survive.
After a long tenure at Apple, Kawasaki became chief executive officer of Garage.com, which helps high tech startups find seed money. According to a Denver Post article, Garage.com has “played matchmaker” to 67 companies, helping them raise $240 million in funding. In describing how the investment world has changed, the entrepreneur told the “Post” that the idea of starting a dot.com, then figuring out how to make a profit is history.
“The reality is that you need to show me real customers and how you can make money from them,” Kawasaki said. “Another mantra is that name-brand investors ensure our success. You really need good technology, a good team and luck. Super Bowl ads and $200,000 launch parties are unnecessary. In fact, all you need is a good product.”
Kawasaki told “The Post” that “far fewer people” are now pursuing start-ups now, but that this is actually a good thing.
“A year ago, anyone who … registered a cute (Internet) domain … assumed they would get funding, and even worse, thought that they were entrepreneurs,” he said.
Kawasaki thinks the kinds of start-ups that will get funded this year are ones with significant technology, a team with management experience, and a business model that “doesn’t require a leap of faith.”
And what of Apple?
“As a geek, one of the most compelling proofs of the existence of God for me is Apple’s continued survival,” Kawasaki told The Post. “So yes, Apple will survive, but God is going to switch to a Vaio (Sony laptop) if Apple doesn’t make a PowerBook that has a footprint smaller than Shaq’s pretty soon.”