Actually we were lucky he made it. Apparently – and this he admitted sheepishly on stage – he overlooked the fact that, as an American, he needed a visa to enter Vietnam.

An irony that was not lost on the travel agents in the audience who obviously felt that if he had booked through a travel agency, that detail would not have been overlooked. Anyway, cut long story short, but not the trip, he made it in time.

As jetlagged as he was, Guy inspired as well as engaged with a combination of wisdom and wit.

So here’s what I learnt from the Guy who’s the former evangelist for Apple and who’s written nine books and working on his 10th and 11th.

1. Make meaning

Great innovation occurs when people want to make meaning, not money. “As a VC, I meet a lot of people who want to make money – this is not a good foundation to build a business. You also attract the wrong people – like MBAs. The question to ask is, how is your organization changing the world?”

2. Make mantra

Ditch those mission statements and come up with a meaningful mantra that resonates with customers. For example, Nike is about “authentic athletic performance”, Federal Express is about “peace of mind” and eBay is about “democratizing commerce”.

3. Jump to the next curve

Don’t build a better brick and mortar travel agency, go online, said Guy. Innovation only occurs when you jump to the next curve, evolution happens on the same curve.

4. Roll the dice

Go deep with your products – for example, Reef sandals have a beer-can opener in their undersoles, go intelligent – a flashlight that takes three types of batteries, go complete – Lexus is not just the car, it’s the totality of the whole experience and and go elegant.

5. Don’t worry, be crappy

With technology, you ship, and then you test. Don’t wait for the perfect world or the world will pass you buy.

6. Let 100 flowers blossom

If after you’ve shipped a product, and people who are not your intended audience buy it, don’t freak out. Take the money, find out why they are buying it.

7. Polarise people

If you create innovation, some people will hate you. Truth is, most times, people don’t care what you do. Macintosh polarizes, so does Harley Davidson.

8. Churn, baby, churn

To innovate, you need to be in denial because people will tell you it cannot be done, so you need to be denial when you jump the curve. But after that, you have to listen – that’s the hardest thing in the world, to flip the switch from not listening to listening.

9. Niche thyself

Create products that are unique and of high value. That’s all the marketing you need to know.

10. Follow 10, 20, 30 rule

As an innovator, you have to pitch – so keep it to 10 slides, 20 minutes and a minimum of 30 point fonts. “And don’t read the slides, otherwise everyone will say, the bozo is reading his slides.”

Later, I had a chance to ask Guy what his personal mantra was. “Empower people,” he said.

Are you empowered already?

Featured image credit (hands): Ockra/iStock