When Guy Kawasaki stopped by on The Coral Capital Podcast , we began where every good story does—back home.
He grew up in Honolulu’s Kalihi Valley, where he encountered two bus-stop muggings, scored one unforgettable ride in a neighbor’s Porsche, and listened when an elementary-school teacher urged his parents to try for a scholarship prep school.
Those little turns, he says, nudged him from “local kid” to Stanford grad to Apple evangelist, then onward to Canva and hosting his own Remarkable People Podcast .
The through-line? A splash of early encouragement, a knack for selling an idea, and Hawaii’s easygoing ‘ohana spirit working quietly in the background.
Humble Beginnings—And a Bus Ride That Changed Everything
Guy never pretended his ambition came from saving the planet.
Two muggings on Honolulu’s city bus and one unforgettable spin in a neighbor’s Porsche did most of the motivational heavy lifting for him.
An elementary-school teacher spotted the spark in Guy and convinced his parents to switch him into a private prep school, a move that eventually carried him to Stanford.
The takeaway: we all need one early sponsor who sees past our surroundings.
The Career Detour Through Diamonds
Pre-med ended in a fainting spell, law school lasted two weeks, and the future evangelist of Macintosh spent his early twenties selling gold chains to US retailers.
Counter-intuitive? Maybe. Useful? Absolutely.
Pushing jewelry taught him the single skill every founder, fundraiser, and product nerd must master: persuasion.
Those same instincts later helped him talk software makers into writing code for a boxy beige Macintosh almost no one outside Cupertino had even touched.
Keeping the Faith When Apple Looked Doomed
Fast-forward to the mid-’90s: analysts were writing Apple’s obituary, until Guy came back and started EvangeList—an email bulletin packed with nothing but good news—new apps, clever hacks, fan disappointing.
It kept morale alive until the company could prove the pundits wrong.
In today’s sea of feeds and doomscrolling, that play still works: carving out one channel where your community knows they’ll leave feeling better than when they arrived.
Growth, Grit and Grace
In his latest book, Think Remarkable, Guy boils 250 podcast interviews down to three habits:
- Growth – stay coachable, even when you’re the expert in the room.
- Grit – accept the unavoidable “–– sandwich” that trails any craft worth learning.
- Grace – use whatever platform you earn to lift the next person in line.
He believes the best never set out to “be remarkable.” You build something genuinely useful; eventually people attach the adjective for you.
Want the Whole Story?
We also covered Signal’s role in democracy, Steve Jobs’ talent for productive terror, and why declaring victory is Silicon Valley’s favorite magic trick.
Catch the full episode on our new YouTube channel , Spotify and Apple Podcasts .
Guy’s book: Think Remarkable: 9 Paths to Transform Your Life and Make a Difference
Senior Associate @ Coral Capital
