Rich Kao

When you respect someone from afar, and you know them, but they don't know you, you mostly think to yourself the chances of ever talking to them or knowing them are basically zero (e.g. a famous athlete, politician, business leader, etc).  Case in point, I've respected Guy Kawasaki from afar for about 15 years (that's him on the right); he pioneered the product "evangelist" concept when he was at Apple; he's a great writer, and he's got a great way of looking at the world, entreprenuership, and more.  He's very  cheeky, insightful and irreverent in a good sort of way.  It's all very refreshing.  I even listed his blog on my blog.  Then I found out he was also a man of faith.  I was tickled, and my admiration went up for him even more.

About one month ago, I got a business idea.  (Guy now majors on funding start up companies via Garage.com).  I thought, I'll e-mail the idea to Guy.  I don't have the time or call to start a business around this idea, but if Guy likes it, I'll give the idea to him for free.  I only asked he give me credit in the asterik if he ever did anything with it.

Several weeks went by, and no response.  I wasn't put off by it at all.  If anything, I was a bit red in the face, thinking I was probably one of a thousand people that send him wacky ideas, and my email was another that went the way of the delete button.

Then today, to my surprise, I got an email from the Guy himself.  Here's what he said: 

Richard,

Thanks for your message. I actually think this is a good idea, but for companies like Netvibes, Pageflakes, and  iGoogle. They should allow people to have their bookmarks create a page like you describe.

It’s not for us to do. Alltop is rather all consuming right now.

All the best to you and PTL!

Guy

Wow...kinda cool.  #1 - He actually replied to me in person (this dude is busy; he actually wrote back to moi!).  #2 - He actually thought about my idea and gave me some concrete feedback.  #3 - He actually liked the idea (I'm not wacky).  #4 - There is a feeling of the personal touch in it (he practices what he preaches).  And #5 - He acknowledge his Christian roots (He's not afraid to be upfront with his faith when it's not PC for him to do so in the secular marketplace). 

BTW, I won't tell you the idea I gave Guy; you can kind of deduce what it is, but I won't state it formally for you.

All this to say, it was a nice little touch to my day...a little sparkle.  Thanks Guy for not forgetting about us little guys.

PS - Here's Guy's signature -- vintage him -  honest, upfront, witty,  entertaining, and  redefining how things can be done.

Guy Kawasaki
Garage Technology Ventures
360 Bryant Street, Suite 100
Palo Alto, CA 94301

guy@truemors.com (best way to get in touch)
650-838-0816 office (you'll never get me here)
650-387-9271 cell (Spinvox will convert voicemail to email)
650-354-1801 fax (what's a fax?)
http://twitter.com/guykawasaki (if you have no life)
Blog.guykawasaki.com (if you want to see why I have no life)