Guy Kawasaki
Born 1954 · Age 71
American marketing specialist, author, technology evangelist, and venture capitalist; early Apple evangelist for the Macintosh; author of multiple books; chief evangelist of Canva; former Wikimedia Foundation trustee.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii
Guy Takeo Kawasaki born to Duke Takeshi Kawasaki and Aiko Kawasaki; family lived in Kalihi Valley, Honolulu.
Graduated ʻIolani School (high school)
Completed secondary education at ʻIolani School in Honolulu.
Attended UC Davis law school (briefly)
Enrolled in UC Davis law school but left after about a week, deciding law school was not for him.
Graduated Stanford University (BA, Psychology)
Earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Stanford University.
Enrolled at UCLA Anderson School of Management (MBA program)
Entered the MBA program at UCLA Anderson; worked at Nova Stylings concurrently.
First real job: Nova Stylings (counting diamonds)
Worked for jewelry manufacturer Nova Stylings while at UCLA; learned selling skills that shaped his career.
Earned MBA from UCLA
Completed MBA at UCLA Anderson School of Management; developed early sales experience working for Nova Stylings (fine jewelry).
Worked at EduWare Services (educational software)
Joined EduWare Services; left after Peachtree Software acquired the company and did not want to relocate to Atlanta.
Hired by Apple (via roommate Mike Boich)
Joined Apple Computer; brought in by Stanford roommate Mike Boich to evangelize Macintosh software and hardware developers.
Met future wife Beth at Apple
Met his wife Beth during his tenure at Apple (mid-1980s).
Chief Apple Evangelist for the Macintosh (marketing in 1984)
Was one of the Apple employees responsible for marketing the Macintosh computer line; popularized the term 'evangelist' in tech marketing.
Left Apple; Hired to lead ACIUS (4th Dimension)
Hired to head ACIUS (U.S. subsidiary of France-based ACI), publisher of the 4th Dimension database for Macintosh.
Founded / ran ACIUS (Macintosh database company)
Led ACIUS and its product 4th Dimension; ran the operation for approximately two years.
Released Emailer and LetterRip (Fog City Software products)
Developed Emailer (an email client) and the LetterRip list server product under Fog City Software.
Left ACIUS to pursue writing/speaking; founded Fog City Software
Departed ACIUS to focus on writing and speaking; co-founded Fog City Software with Will Mayall, Kathryn Henkens, and Jud Spencer.
Published book: The Macintosh Way
Authored and published The Macintosh Way (1990), one of his early books focused on Apple/Mac culture and management.
Published book: Database 101
Authored Database 101 (1991).
Published GUM utilities / GUM for PowerBook; GUM coverage
Guy's Utilities for Macintosh (GUM) published by After Hours Software; a PowerBook edition later rebranded by Symantec as Norton Essentials for PowerBook.
Published book: Selling the Dream
Authored Selling the Dream (1992).
Published book: The Computer Curmudgeon
Authored The Computer Curmudgeon (1993).
Published books: Hindsights; How to Drive Your Competition Crazy
Published Hindsights and How to Drive Your Competition Crazy (both 1995).
Returned to Apple as Apple Fellow
Rejoined Apple in the role of Apple Fellow to help maintain and rejuvenate Macintosh community and culture.
Emailer licensed/sold to Claris (reported)
Emailer (Fog City) was licensed to/sold to Claris; referenced in TidBITS (April 3, 1995).
Left Apple to start Garage.com (angel investor matchmaking)
Departed Apple to found Garage.com (initially an angel investor matchmaking service) with Craig Johnson and Rich Karlgaard.
Co-founded Garage Technology Ventures (venture capital firm)
Co-founded Garage Technology Ventures (garage VC) which invested in companies such as Pandora Radio, Tripwire, The Motley Fool, and d.light Design.
Published book: Rules for Revolutionaries
Authored Rules for Revolutionaries (2000).
Published book: The Art of the Start
Authored The Art of the Start (2004), a best-known guide for entrepreneurs.
Founded Truemors (rumor mill)
Launched Truemors, a free-flowing rumor mill; initial startup capital reportedly small (~$12,000 reported in press).
Published book: Reality Check
Authored Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition (2008).
Co-founded Alltop (online magazine rack, aggregator)
Co-founded Alltop, an RSS-feed aggregator and 'online magazine rack' (Alltop aggregated hundreds of topics).
Truemors acquired by NowPublic
Truemors was sold/acquired by NowPublic (reported July 10, 2008).
Published book: Enchantment
Authored Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions (2011).
Published book: What the Plus! (Google+ guide)
Authored What the Plus! Google+ for the rest of us (2012) — available on Kindle, iBooks, and Google Play.
Published book: APE (Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur)
Co-authored APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur—How to Publish a Book (2013) with Shawn Welch.
Joined Google as advisor to Motorola (Google's Motorola division)
Became an advisor to Motorola (Google) with a mandate to create a Google+ mobile device community.
Spoke at Social Data Week (Ten Words You Seldom Hear in Social Media)
Delivered a talk/presentation at Social Data Week (video dated September 16, 2013).
Delivered TEDxBerkeley talk (The Art of Innovation)
Gave TEDxBerkeley talk (video dated February 22, 2014) on innovation and evangelism.
Became Chief Evangelist of Canva
Joined Canva (Sydney-based graphic design platform, founded Jan 2013) as Chief Evangelist to help democratize design.
Published books: The Art of Social Media; The Art of the Start 2.0
Co-authored The Art of Social Media (with Peg Fitzpatrick) and released The Art of the Start 2.0 (updated edition).
Retained as Mercedes‑Benz USA brand ambassador
Mercedes-Benz USA retained Kawasaki as a brand ambassador (reported in Guy's bio).
Joined Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees
Appointed to the Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees (the non-profit operating Wikipedia).
Stepped down from Wikimedia Foundation board
Left the Wikimedia Foundation board at the end of his term in December 2016.
Named adviser to WikiTribune
Mentioned by WikiTribune as an adviser to the news service founded by Jimmy Wales.
Published book: Wise Guy: Lessons from a Life
Penguin Group released Wise Guy (2019), a personal book of vignettes and lessons.
Launched Remarkable People podcast
Created the Remarkable People podcast (December 2019), interviewing luminaries across fields.
Remarkable People podcast reached 90+ episodes (milestone)
By August 26, 2021, the Remarkable People podcast had over 90 episodes, including guests like Jane Goodall and Stephen Wolfram.
Estimated net worth reported (~USD 30 million)
Biographical summaries and profiles (aggregated sources) estimate Guy Kawasaki's net worth around $30M as of 2024.
Continues as Chief Evangelist of Canva and public speaker/author
As of the mid-2020s, remains active as Canva Chief Evangelist, podcast host, author, speaker, and executive fellow/adjunct professor.
Key Achievement Ages
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