Wise Guy: Lessons from a Life

By Guy Kawasaki

Silicon Valley icon and bestselling author Guy Kawasaki shares the unlikely stories of his life and the lessons we can draw from them.

Guy Kawasaki has been a fixture in the tech world since he was part of Apple's original Macintosh team in the 1980s. He's widely respected as a source of wisdom about entrepreneurship, venture capital, marketing, and business evangelism, which he's shared in bestselling books such as The Art of the Start and Enchantment. But before all that, he was just a middle-class kid in Hawaii, a grandson of Japanese immigrants, who loved football and got a C+ in 9th grade English.

Wise Guy, his most personal book, is about his surprising journey. It's not a traditional memoir but a series of vignettes. He toyed with calling it Miso Soup for the Soul, because these stories (like those in the Chicken Soup series) reflect a wide range of experiences that have enlightened and inspired him.

For instance, you'll follow Guy as he . . .

Gets his first real job in the jewelry business--which turned out to be surprisingly useful training for the tech world.
Disparages one of Apple's potential partners in front of that company's CEO, at the sneaky instigation of Steve Jobs.
Blows up his Apple career with a single sentence, after Jobs withholds a pre-release copy of the Think Different ad campaign: "That's okay, Steve, I don't trust you either."
Reevaluates his self-importance after being mistaken for Jackie Chan by four young women.
Takes up surfing at age 62--which teaches him that you can discover a new passion at any age, but younger is easier
Guy covers everything from moral values to business skills to parenting. As he writes, "I hope my stories help you live a more joyous, productive, and meaningful life. If Wise Guy succeeds at this, then that's the best story of all."

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525538615
• ISBN13: 9780525538615
• Release Date: February 2019
• Publisher: Portfolio
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.2" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Hillsborough Doughboy, relationship between chimpanzees and American politicians + more

Guy Kawasaki has a simple yet humorous way of writing in his #NewBook (Available 2/26), #WiseGuy, that will resonate with #GenX, #Millennials or #GenZ alike. I don’t recall any other book where you will see the mention of roasted duck flying into your mouth and get answer to the college class in which President Barack Obama got a B grade. It paints a picture that you don’t have to be #SteveJobs, #MahatmaGandhi, #Mozart or #Einstein for people to remember you. The book brings in Guy’s experience in a unique way by connect them to interesting out of the world happenings, for example tracer bullets from an A-10 Warthog. Guy is also not shy of talking critically about US politics. My favorite part of the book was about the thesis of paying it forward and an interesting story about his days at Garage.com and their encounter with the ‘big dog’. The book includes insights about speaking business and writing books. As a reminder, you will also learn about the Hillsborough Doughboy, the difference between chicken and roosters as well as the relationship between chimpanzees and American politicians. One last thing , I’m glad Guy Kawasaki in the book agrees that #California girls are beautiful and I 100% agree with him. Shaka symbol here! #surf #business #Apple