How to write good startup advice articles

http://swombat.com/2011/1/20/how-to-write-good-startup-advice-articles

by bensummers • 16 years ago

35 21 16 years ago

MJR2• 16 years ago

So many of the articles I read are actually devoid of good advice. The consist of generalities and one-off experiences that don't actually resonate outside a specific set or circumstances. The first step to writing a good advice article would be to actually have good advice worth sharing.

swombat5• 16 years ago

That's only partially true. Even if all you've done is work for a startup for 6 months, you already have something to share - with those who haven't even done that.

If you take even one step on the way, there are a lot more people behind you than ahead of you.

jimboyoungblood4• 16 years ago

If you're only 6 months in, you have no idea where your startup will end up. Your advice might be helping others, but it's also possible you're leading them off a cliff.

jimboyoungblood4• 16 years ago

There's nothing wrong with writing about one-off experiences. For someone in similar circumstances, such advice could prove to be the most valuable.

What's awful are the articles written by first-time entrepreneurs or wantrepreneurs who have yet to do anything. They're mostly harmless, but sometimes they give horrifically bad advice. As a rule, most of the great entrepreneurs I know don't blog.

MJR2• 16 years ago

I really meant one-off as in it could only happen that way and only to you. There's nothing wrong with WRITING about those experiences, the problem as I see it is thinking that you have advice to give about any random topic or item you've experienced simply because you've experienced it.

edw519• 16 years ago

Step 0: Identify your own start-up.

Before I even start reading, I want to know if the article is by someone who has actually done a start-up.

swombat5• 16 years ago

I'd say that's part of "give context".

Most people do identify their startup in their bio, anyway.

rewind• 16 years ago

I was thinking about writing an article giving advice to people who want to write articles giving advice to people who are writing articles that give advice about startups. I'm short on sources though. If anybody has any, please post a link. Thanks.

jimboyoungblood4• 16 years ago

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2124262

joshwa• 16 years ago

My Startup Advice:

Stop writing "startup advice" articles and put that energy into building your freaking product.

swombat5• 16 years ago

What's the context within which this makes sense? Can you imagine a context within which it doesn't make sense? Would you advise Tim Ferris, 37Signals, Seth Godin, Andrew Warner, Paul Graham, Derek Sivers or Fred Wilson to stop writing "startup advice"?

Your advice above is a great example of terrible startup advice. You're over-generalising from your personal situation and experience, you're not including any context, you're being too brief to be convincing, and you're presenting this advice as a one-line comment in an online forum, which gives it little credibility.

jimboyoungblood4• 16 years ago

The names you cite have pretty good advice to give, but they also have obvious incentives for doing so. That is, they are all trying to sell something to aspiring entrepreneurs. As are you, judging from your website.

For those who are not looking to sell books, invest in the next big thing, give lectures, or provide startup consulting, "work on the product" is about the most non-terrible piece of advice anyone could possibly give.

DanielBMarkham• 16 years ago

The only thing I'd add to this is that all articles are entertainment -- that is, if the reader is not enjoying themselves they will not continue to read.

The trick is to walk the fine line between entertaining and vacuousness -- lack of substance. Having a solid recommendation helps, but that's only because it's a clear goal. Some of the best articles I've read appear to be completely entertainment-based, yet leave the reader thinking in a new way they hadn't thought before.

Based on a dare from swombat, I tried to do this with today's blog entry (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2124230), but missed the boat. Satire is very difficult.

There is a tension between being too direct and being too general. To Edw512's point, if you clearly identify your target, it's much easier to walk that line.

swombat5• 16 years ago

Oh, definitely. It has to be readable and entertaining. But those vacuous articles don't fail to be entertaining (generally)... they're just empty.

deckardt• 16 years ago

These are all fine tips for any sort of how to article. Just seems like something to get some views from the startup community.

sayemm2• 16 years ago

The irony is that most startup blogs are written and maintained by failed entrepreneurs. Despite their exalted status in the tech scene, look closely at their bio and you'll be surprised that they have yet to really prove themselves as entrepreneurs. It's far easier said (or blogged) than done.

It's like the affiliate marketer, the self-help guru, or the Dr. Phils of the world who've made a name for themselves only by selling you and others into it. There are several startup blogs and schools of thought that I'm thinking of here that are no different.

It's like the publishing industry. For every great book or blog you read there are thousands of other crappy ones. People in the startup/venture business who have the strongest track records though are also the same people who write the best startup advice.

That's why I love reading posts by Mark Cuban, PG, Paul Bucheit, Derek Sivers, Fred Wilson, Howard Lindzon, Andy Swan, the list goes on... real wisdom is always hard-earned.

bjplink• 16 years ago

"The irony is that most startup blogs are written and maintained by failed entrepreneurs."

In the last six months or so, I've felt the same way about a lot of the users here on HN. It's a joke amongst my friends who also read this site that we wish there was a "PROVE IT" button next to each comment... just as a way to tweak all of the people who like to talk like they've come down the mountain with stone tablets to tell us how to do things.

That's not to say that everyone here who has taken the time to offer advice and suggestions to others is full of it, of course. Yet I still think you should hesitate to take a lot of what people say with any degree of importance until you know that their background justifies it.

jonpaul• 16 years ago

Meh. I maintain a blog on startups/motivation/minimalism/etc. "Failed" is just your negative way of seeing that they haven't been successful yet. I blog for all the reasons listed here: http://techneur.com/post/524363996/the-best-exercise-any-ent... In short: to learn, get feedback, and document my experiences.

How cool would it have been if you could go back and read Mark Cuban's blog or PG's blog before they were successful? Don't you think that even reading about their struggles before they were successful might help to keep you motivated as you may find yourself with similar struggles?

sayemm2• 16 years ago

I only have a gripe with bloggers who post as if they know what the hell they're talking about but don't have any real past success to back up their assumed authority.

I bet if you looked back at the posts of anyone who's a real success today before they proved themselves you wouldn't see them preaching as if they know everything. I think that's a big problem in the startup/venture business, some people seem to develop larger personalities online than they do offline.

This thread, and my response to it, was related to giving out startup advice. I'm not against blogging at all and I think it's great that you're doing it. I plan on starting a blog soon myself, but until I earn my stripes I'll always think of myself as a student.

How to write good startup advice articles

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