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The 10 Ways Startup Advice Is Flawed
Updated 1 month, 1 week ago
Source: http://gigaom.com/
Boy is there a lot of startup advice floating around these days. To be sure, I routinely feel bad about adding to it. And yet I’m about to do it again.
This time, I’m going to itemize 10 ways that startup advice — typically presented in some form of “I did this, then I got really rich and/or famous, so if you do the same thing, you’ll also get rich and famous” — is flawed.
Startup Advice: The Bad
1. Maybe the thing they did really didn’t cause them ...
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Showing 48 relevant reactions out of 160.
"Actionable advice proposes a set of behaviors that you’re capable of emulating": http://bit.ly/2Sg17O
Thanks Eric,
I agree with the 10 that you have. I have been on both sides of the coin having received advice from “those who have done it” and have given advice as “one who has done something”. I definitely think it is important for people seeking advice to understand what level of done it or done something is being offered.
As we all know the number of people
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[...] It Takes To Succeed Experience matters when it comes to advisers, vendors and employees. A recent post by Eric Ries on gigaom.com challenged the conventional wisdom that people who worked at previously [...]
What to look for in startup advice. http://ow.ly/vHUK
IMy friends tell me they have learned from my mistakes! So hopefully this means I ought to be able to set myself up by saying ““I did this, but didn’t get rich and/or famous, so if you do the same thing, you’ll also…”
Thanks Eric. I am a big fan. And your key message ” look for actionable advice that can be applied in small batches, has a measurable outcome and is based on coherent principles that you understand.” is hopefully not only applicable to start ups, but to life in general. I’d also rather hear some advice from entrepreneurs what went wrong, what they thought would work etc. I know of ... See all content
thanks for sharing startup advices,
"The 10 Ways Startup Advice Is Flawed" - great article by Eric Ries from Gigaom. Lots of advice & lots of it sucks. http://ow.ly/vMi3
[...] Startup advice brilliance By Peter Zaballos A friend pointed me to a superb summary of advice for startups, specifically calling out the ways that advice can be flawed, along with some perceptive insights into how to identify advice that’s actionable and useful. The post is by Eric Reis, and is appropriately titled The 10 Ways Startup Advice is Flawed [...]
Sage Advice Ed. The focus should be making an “ever-bettter” living. The rest will come with it.
"The 10 Ways Startup Advice Is Flawed" http://tinyurl.com/yj7g8ne -værd at huske når man læser alle jubelartiklerne
I think a lot of would-be entrepreneurs should rethink the popular conception of “start up”. Forget the dreams of going public. Forget the dreams of getting bought out. Focus on starting small, lean and mean. Focus on generating steady cashflow. Focus on keeping costs rock bottom. Focus on beating your customers’ expectations. View “success” as controlling your own destiny ... See all content
The “bad” list of 10 maybes was so broad that it pretty much covered every single possibility under the sun, making it for a bit of tough reading. But the general principle of this post is helpful in guiding would-be entrepreneurs.
Nicely framed. Maybe. (via Gigaom) http://bit.ly/3klSse
agreed. more breathless blather. go away, eric.
[...] The 10 Ways Startup Advice Is Flawed (tags: startup) [...]
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This post was mentioned on Hackernews by tptacek: 10. Maybe they have an agenda. Ask yourself: Does this person stand to benefit if I follow this advice? The VCs I know and trust are honest and very pro-entrepreneur, but I routinely hear others give ad…
Another great post by @ericries on @gigaom "10 Ways #Startups #Advice Is Flawed" http://bit.ly/1IJcA9 #venture
and there is a whole industry trying to make entrepreneurs feel insecure and miserable, so they can benefit from them … eg – big VCs, coaching pundits, MBAs with no useful experience, english majors who just want to write another book, business consultants etc etc
The good & bad of startup advice: http://bit.ly/1xMyEz (GigaOM)
As with a lot of blog posts, it can be summed up in one short, simple word: think.
.@ericries is all over with good founder guidance these days: The 10 Ways Startup Advice Is Flawed http://om.bit.ly/3OaKqF guesting @gigaom
Well said. In entrepreneurship as in many human endeavors, much is attributed to skill that is largely due to luck or incumbency. Hence 1-5 and 7 on your list of bad advice.
I know this might sound whiney or bitter, but I think the vast majority of successful entrepreneurs were in the right place at the right time.If they weren't, how else would they have been successful?
A lot of people were in the right place at the right time, but didn't do anything about it and let the opportunity slip away.Ask yourself: why did Geocities not turn into Facebook?
Because Yahoo bought them for a whole ton of stock.
Why didn't newspapers create Four Square or Yext or Craigslist or ____.Comfort with the status quo and a lack of vision, perhaps?
Because it was publishing static content to an anonymous audience, not dynamic content tailored to each individual user?
When he said 'turn into', I think he's asking why Geocities didn't evolve from 'static content to an anonymous audience' into 'dynamic content tailored to each individual users'.Geocities (Yahoo!), AOL, Xerox--the head of a long list of companies in the right place at the right time but lacking vision.
> a long list of companies in the right place at the right time but lacking vision.Precisely my point!
I don't disagree with you, but being in the right place at the right time usually means putting yourself out there by constantly searching for opportunities and trying (and failing) many times. Once you find yourself in the right place at the right time, there is also the matter of recognizing a great opportunity and risking your own capital and reputation by pursuing it with full force. That is much ... See all content
If I recall the story of the "Hot or Not" founders, they suddenly found themselves with an experiment that went out of control. They had no immediate means to profit from it and more traffic than they could handle. Rather than just pull the plug on the site, they found ways to get servers and bridge the gap until they had money coming in.I couldn't help but think I'd have given up on the site early ... See all content
Users = Money. It might not be enough money to justify the costs, but there's almost always a way to make it work.
Now if I can only get those users. :-)
"Next time you’re listening to a guru, ask yourself: How do I really know that they’re successful?"An ironic item to include.
This advice is remarkable only in its obviousness. Link-bait.
@ericries says good startup advice is actionable, test-able in batches, measur-able, and based on coherent principles: http://j.mp/2WOvyX.
Question advice. Good tips. http://mnxak.tk
http://bit.ly/iv86B - Totally agree that any advice you hear must be tested! Hard data rules.
"Success Theater" is a great term, found in GigaOm post by @ericries - http://bit.ly/iv86B
more blather from the same author who says that enterpreneurship is not a path to wealth. no matter all the evidence to the contrary.
10. Maybe they have an agenda. Ask yourself: Does this person stand to benefit if I follow this advice? The VCs I know and trust are honest and very pro-entrepreneur, but I routinely hear others give advice that entrepreneurs should be suspicious of. Fundamentally, their incentives are based on having a portfolio of startups. As an entrepreneur, you have a portfolio of one. Think about that the next ... See all content
As a corollary to this, I think it's important to understand that only certain types of companies and entrepreneurs benefit from giving out business advice to the entire world. Generally, these are the types of businesses that greatly benefit from publicity. One of the main reasons social web companies pursue (and receive) so much press is that it's in their best interest for everyone to know about ... See all content
Best #startup advice is actionable, can be applied in small doses + is based on principles that are easily understood: http://bit.ly/2cmIi2
11. There are way too many ‘perceived’ start-up experts e.g. this is a nice idea but I perceive difficulties in putting it into practice ;)
Snappy and well-written, your blog post gets sharply to the point and is useful. There are lots of supposedly successful people making their money teaching others to “do what they’ve done” and they’ve not actually done it (yet). However, one doesn’t always need to have been in their client’s shoes to help them determine a problem and solution, but if the advisor ... See all content
I can’t believe someone finally said this. Thank you so much. Until now, I thought I was a mismatcher. No joke. You’ve been promoted to my #1 blogger.
I would probably add one thing – if I may:
You might not have nutted marketing or the target market on the first pass. Don’t listen to folks who say that you must have a full-on marketing plan out of the gate
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i think the summary of your article is the last two sentences.
if you dont understand/agree with the principle, dont try to act on that piece of advice.
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