Guy Kawasaki, former Apple Evangelist
Today, my guest is Guy Kawasaki, the Chief Evangelist of Canva, an online, graphics-design service, Trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation, former Chief Evangelist of Apple, and the author of several best selling books on startups including The Art of the Start 2.0.
Since many of my guests are lawyers, most people do not know that Guy actually did attend law school for about 10 days.
I first met Guy when he started Garage with the late founder of Venture Law Group, Craig Johnson, so it was a thrill to finally interview him.
In this candid conversation from the sources, Guy shared the real stories behind his incredibly brief stint in law school, his mid-life discovery of hockey, and his all-or-nothing approach to photography.
1. The Ten-Day Law Career. Guy revealed that his legal education at UC Davis lasted exactly 10 days. Following his parents' cultural expectation that he become a doctor, dentist, or lawyer, he chose law to avoid medicine, but quickly hated the way the professors tried to tear down and rebuild his mind. Unafraid to pivot, he dropped out, joking that while many lawyers take 20 years to realize they are miserable, he was smart enough to figure it out in just a week and a half. He eventually returned to Honolulu to work for the Lieutenant Governor before pursuing an MBA.
2. A Mandate to Participate. Despite growing up in Hawaii where there was zero pond hockey, Guy discovered a massive passion for the sport at the age of 48. He originally took it up because his wife urged him not to be the typical venture capitalist glued to a Blackberry on the sidelines, telling him he needed to actually participate in his kids' lives. He instantly fell in love with the ice and now plays incredibly intensely, hitting the rink five to seven times a week.
3. An Absorbing, Beautiful Game. Guy loves hockey because it is a constantly moving game with no out-of-bounds, requiring a beautiful, absorbing blend of math, physics, and aerobic exercise that completely occupies his mind. He also appreciates the safety of sliding on ice in heavy padding; unlike basketball, which constantly left him with aching knees and sprained fingers, his absolute worst hockey injury was simply getting a splinter in his butt from sliding across the locker room bench.
4. An All-or-Nothing Approach to Imagery. Sparked by his father's genetic interest and the birth of his first child, Guy's other major passion is photography. Leveraging his professional visibility, he uses his camera to document highly exclusive experiences, such as private tours of the Porsche and Mercedes factories or mingling with celebrities like Tim Ferriss. This love for visual imagery also perfectly aligns with his work at the online graphic design startup Canva. Above all, Guy emphasized his intense, all-or-nothing personality: he refuses to do anything "half-ass," noting that his dedication to his hobbies is strictly "a one or a zero"
