TheOpenForce.com

In case you haven't figured it out, I'm a fan of Guy Kawasaki and his "How to Change the World " blog.  If you like his blog, you should check out his book "Reality Check."  Yes, you can read most of the content for free on the web, but sometimes a printed copy is more convenient.   Like if you're on an airplane.  Or on the toilet.  Or if you want to underline it.  Or if you want to underline it while you're on the toilet on an airplane.  Ok, you get the idea. 

The book covers some of the best items from his blog, categorized into themes like starting a company, raising money, business planning, innovation, marketing, schmoozing, management, hiring and firing and more. It's not a bunch of high-falutin' theories either. It's hard lessons learned by working with hundreds of entrepreneurs. Guy is also a player coach, having built four startup companies and served on the boards of ten companies. So it's practical advice rather than academic theory. And even though it's practical, it's still entertaining. You won't find the top 10 lies of VCs or the top 11 lies of entrepreneurs in any other book. And I doubt you'll read either of those pieces and not learn something either about yourself or about how you conduct your business. With more than 90 essays (including some great Q&A pieces) if you heed just a fraction of the advice in this book, it will pay for itself tens if not hundreds of times over. How's that for a compelling ROI?

While a lot of his advice is oriented towards startups, in my experience, it's equally applicable to large companies.  It's all about focus and execution.  Guy was one of the top rated speakers we ever had at the MySQL Users Conference, and he's well worth whatever he charges for these events. 

• InfoWorld: A Needed Reality Check for Enterpeneurs
• Amazon: Reality Check