March 22, 2011

Questions for Guy Kawasaki, First Apple Evangelist?

Cover crop from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Enchantment-Changing-Hearts-Minds-Actions/dp/1591843790/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300832397&sr=1-1">Guy Kawasaki's 1oth book: Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions.</a>

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Guy Kawasaki, one the original marketers of the Macintosh computer in 1984, has been called the Dale Carnegie of Silicon Valley for his books on how to enchant friends and influence people. A tech entrepeneur’s tech entrepeneur, his bestselling 10th book, “Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions,” came out March 8. I’m interviewing Kawasaki later this week; got a question for Apple’s first evangelist? If there’s a Mac anywhere in your proximity, you might, so please feel free to add them to the comments below and I’ll take a look.

Here are a few I’m tinkering with to get you started:

1) How would you describe the art of (and need for) enchantment to a college student about to enter a challenging job market?

2) Is there an area in American public discourse where people who should be enchanting others currently aren’t?

3) Today’s new tech companies seem generally better organized and less prone to excess than the dot coms of the late ’90s, which is probably great for investors but sort of boring from a party standpoint. Am I right in thinking that start-up culture generally has calmed down and grown up somewhat? 

4) How has Silicon Valley changed most dramatically since you were first at Apple?

5) Given how ubiquitous the glowing Apple logo was at this year’s SXSW Interactive, it’s clear that the concept of Apple evangelism you created continues to succeed. Do you see any downside to the ubiquity of Apple products in geek circles? Do you ever think, ‘hey, maybe that worked a little too well in Silicon Valley?

6) What one piece of advice would you give to a nonprofit or individual trying to change the world for the better?

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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