This week in class we watched a TedTalk by Guy Kawasaki, “The Art of the Start”. This TedTalk was very different from any of the other TedTalks I have been exposed to. Kawasaki was very lighthearted with his topic and cracked a ton of jokes. He seemed less professional but more casual and relaxed; very different from the other TedTalks. I thoroughly enjoyed his talk though because I was engaged the whole time.
Some of the take aways from the TedTalk were
- Making a mantra
- Make meaning not money
- Business Model
- High and to the Right
- 10-20-30 Rule
These top five take aways were so interesting and definitely stuck in my head. Making a mantra was really intriguing rather than making a motto or mission statement because the mission statement is often too long and not memorable. The example about the Wendy’s mission statement, none of the workers or customers could have recited the mission statement about leadership and learning. However, they could remember the mantra – “Fast Healthy Food”. It is straight and to the point and everyone can remember it. Nike’s mantra is “Just Do It”. Make meaning and not money was also extremely memorable because it’s the reason all of us are doing our projects and ventures. For our group in particular, our goal isn’t to make a ton of money or profit, but rather to make sure that the children in Sierra Leone are being provided with the necessary nutrients that they are lacking. The way that Kawasaki described the business model was particularly interesting. He said that the model needed to be specific, simple, it’s IMPORTANT to ask women on the model, incorporate MAP (milestone assumption task) and find a specific niche. The last two important facts that has stuck in my head was HIGH AND TO THE RIGHT – a way to ensure that we’re the only provider for a unique product that is not only wanted but also to add value to the consumers. We can’t provide a product that has no value but we’re the only one offering it – that’s just stupid. We can’t provide a product that has no value and we’re not the only one doing it – that’s Dotcom. And lastly, the way that he described the best way to give a pitch was absolutely incredible and catchy. The 10-20-30 rule is so simple but something that I never would have thought of. We shouldn’t have more than 10 slides in the presentation max. We should not go on for more than 20 minutes otherwise the people we’re presenting to will get bored. And lastly, for the font, it should not be less than 30 pts. The trick to finding the best font would be to find out the age of the oldest person in the room and then cut it in half and that’s the best font size. These points that Kawasaki discussed in the video were so practical and could definitely be applied in our project.
Also, Karli Manko and I worked on the business model canvas together and I am going to attach it in this blogpost.