

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

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sayemm
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.

~~~
jonpaul
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...](http://techneur.com/post/524363996/the-best-exercise-any-
entrepreneur-can-do) 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?

~~~
sayemm
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.

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MJR
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.

~~~
jimboyoungblood
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.

~~~
MJR
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.

------
joshwa
My Startup Advice:

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

~~~
swombat
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.

~~~
jimboyoungblood
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.

~~~
fleitz
Followed perhaps only by the advice of "stop reading hacker news and work on
your product" and "stop commenting on hacker news and work on your product"

------
edw519
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.

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

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

------
rewind
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.

~~~
jimboyoungblood
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2124262>

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

------
DanielBMarkham
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.

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

