Bootcamp helps new entrepreneurs

By John Duchemin
Advertiser Staff Writer

Silicon Valley entrepreneur and Hawai'i native Guy Kawasaki will bring his traveling Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs to the Honolulu Convention Center next month, an event designed to teach aspiring businessmen the basics of starting a company and attracting investors.

The daylong event Feb. 25 features lectures by Kawasaki, founder and chief executive of Garage Technology Ventures, and other executives from Garage and other Silicon Valley companies.

Local backers said the event is an excellent chance for new entrepreneurs to get world-class tips on starting a business.

"There's a lot of basic advice he (Kawasaki) passes along," said David McClain, dean of the University of Hawai'i College of Business Administration, which helped arrange the event. The event's goal "is to help rekindle entrepreneurial spirit in the Islands, get the creative juices flowing," McClain said.

Kawasaki, a Kalihi Valley native and former "chief evangelist" for Macintosh, wrote the book "Rules for Revolutionaries" and formed Garage Technology Ventures in October 1997. The company tries to arrange financing for promising but overlooked high-tech startups.

One local entrepreneur said Kawasaki's lecture can only be good for Hawai'i, an opportunity to tap in to Mainland expertise.

"I think he can really help teach Hawai'i entrepreneurs the rules of the game — he knows them better than anyone else," said Beth Carvin, founder of Kailua human resources software firm Nobscot.

UH is seeking corporate sponsors to help defray the costs — Garage's fee is typically in the tens of thousands of dollars — and underwrite some tickets for university students.

The sign-up fee for Bootcamp is $199 before Jan. 19, but increases after that date. For more information see the event Web site at www.hawaiibootcamps.com.