GUY KAWASAKI KNOWS how to "think different." The Hawaiian-born marketing guru first gained fame as the "chief evangelist" at Apple Computer Inc. in the 1980s. Two years ago, he opened the doors of garage.com, a Web-based company that matches angel investors with high-tech startups. The prolific author's seventh and latest tome, Rules for Revolutionaries, offers a lively look at how to implement new business ideas. Does the title sound like a contradiction? It's entirely in character for Kawasaki, 45, who has made a career of upending conventional wisdom. He spoke with Staff Editor Edith Updike about some of his counterintuitive theories.

Q: Are you just a contrary person?
A: I don't think so. I'm a questioning person, a skeptical person. I'm not trying to be a pain in the ass...but every entrepreneur has to have pain-in-the-ass qualities.

Q: You've said that the worst thing for a startup is too much money. Why?
A: If you have too much money, you can do stupid things. You can afford to make mistakes. You can -- and you will -- do things the status quo way, not the guerrilla way.

Q: Any examples? Did it ever happen to you?
A: No, I never had too much money. Power Agents is one Internet company that imploded about a year ago. I think they had too much money...beautiful office space, everything first-class. They hired Electronic Data Systems to build their Web site. EDS building a Web site for a startup? There should be two guys that dropped out of college building that Web site.

Q: Is that why you say: "Ask investors for less than you need"?
A: The main reason is to easily [get] fully subscribed. If you ask for more than you need and don't get fully subscribed, you're perceived as not hot. Then you won't get more. In fact, some people who have committed may back out.

Q: If a business plan is better too short than long, what's the bare minimum?
A: If I had to choose between one sentence and 100 pages, I'd take the one sentence. The sweet spot is about 20 pages. If it's 60, you know the plan is bull. I have never heard of a company not getting funded because the plan was too short. Most people only read the summary. They don't read the financials, and even if they did, wouldn't believe it.

Q: What? Savvy investors don't read the financials?
A: Okay, maybe I'm being a bit hyperbolic, but in today's robust economy, what difference does it make? It doesn't matter if you're making money. You can still go public and get a great valuation. That covers up a lot of mistakes. Having made many a business plan myself, you're just pulling numbers out of the air. People want to see financials to know that you're capable of some kind of forecast. Beyond that, it's purely a crap shoot.

Q: You eschew nondisclosure agreements. Why?
A: If you want potential investors to sign a nondisclosure agreement because you are going to tell them your great idea and you're afraid they're going to rip it off, that's total, complete paranoia. Essentially, you are saying, "I don't trust you." Not a good way to start a relationship.

This article was originally published in the Apr. 26, 1999 print edition of Business Week's Frontier. To subscribe, please see our subscription policy.

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