Make a list, check it twice: can you check off all the items on our list? If not, fine-tune your business skills with these insider tips from entrepreneurial guru Guy Kawasaki

Entrepreneur, Feb, 2005 by Guy Kawasaki

Guy Kawasaki is the legendary founder of Garage Technology Ventures, a VC firm in Silicon Valley, and the former chief evangelist of Apple Computer. He has founded two software companies and has helped more than 100 companies raise venture capital.

His current best-selling book, The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything, reflects his experience as an evangelist, entrepreneur, investment banker and venture capitalist. Given his expertise, we asked Kawasaki to provide you with the ultimate startup checklist.

This list is for entrepreneurs who want to avoid getting bogged down in theory and unnecessary details. My assumption is that your goal is to change the world--not study it. If your attitude is "Cut the crap and just tell me what I need to do," then this checklist is for you.

The Art of Starting

* Do you make meaning? Great companies change the world by fighting the status quo, inertia and ignorance. They make people's lives better, fix the bad and perpetuate the good. Mediocre and unsuccessful companies start out only to make money. Here's the acid test: If your company never existed, would it matter to the world?

* Do you have a company mantra? Forget a mission statement. Think mantra--three words, tops. What three words capture the essence of what you do and why you exist? Great example: Mary Kay's mantra is "Enriching women's lives."

* Are you typing or prototyping? You're spending too much time with Excel, PowerPoint and Word. Prototype and prospect instead. Don't have the funds to do this? There's no magical solution for this Catch-22, but the lack of funds never prevents a true entrepreneur from starting.

* Have you defined a business model that is credible, simple and specific? This is a question that the entire high-tech sector skipped during the dotcom days. The salient questions are: Who's got your money in his or her pocket? And how will you get it?

The Art of Positioning

* Can you describe your product or service without using acronyms or jargon? If it takes five years of industry experience to begin to understand what you do, you've got a problem. Your parents should be able to explain your product or service. Your grandparents should be able to use it.

* Are you occupying the high ground? Focus on what you can do for your customers, not on what your competition can't. Nobody buys anything to help a company kill its competition, so resist the temptation to trash other companies.

* Are you seizing a niche for your product or service? The ultimate business position is to provide a unique product or service that customers really need. This is called filling a niche. You can be unique in terms of features, service, pricing or location, but don't try to be all things to all people.

* Does your positioning pass the "opposite test"? You claim your product is fast, secure and easy to use. Does the competition say its product is slow, dangerous and hard to use? If not, your positioning will only work in a vacuum--and a vacuum, no pun intended, sucks.

The Art of Pitching

* Can you explain what your product or service does in 60 seconds? Buildings are getting taller, but elevators are getting faster. Most investors have a short attention span for elevator pitches, so the longer it takes to explain, the less likely your pitch will succeed.

* Are you answering the little man? Imagine there's a little man sitting on your shoulder. Every time you say something in a pitch, he asks, "So what?" For example: You spew out a line about your "open-source, client-server, Java-based technology." You think you've shocked and awed, but your audience is wondering, "So what?"

* Have you practiced so many times that you're not embarrassed to watch a video of yourself? You need to give a pitch approximately 25 times to get good at it. Don't think you'll "rise to the occasion" when you're in front of investors, because you won't.

* When you're making a pitch, have you distilled your presentation to just 10 slides? Trust me: Your curve-jumping, paradigm-shifting, patent-pending way to sell dog food online doesn't merit 50 slides. The crucial topics are the problem you're solving, your solution, the business model, the underlying magic, marketing and sales, the competition, the management team, projections and key metrics, and current status.

* Is the smartest font you use 30 points? Divide the age of the oldest person in the audience by two to get the optimal font size. The number you'll come up with is approximately 30 points. Can't fit everything on the slides in 30-point font? Then you're using too much text.

The Art of Writing a Business Plan

If you threw away page three and beyond of your business plan, would it stilt attract investors? The executive summary, which is the first two pages of your business plan, is the most important part of the document. If you do this well, investors will read the rest. If you don't, then nothing in the next 18 pages will pull them in.

* Is your business plan longer than 20 pages? The optimal length of a business plan is 20 pages. You're mistaken if you think investors care that your 50-page financial model shows you'll spend $65.25 on pencils in the fifth month of the fourth year.