Startups & Technology

30 Startup Best Practices From Y Combinator And Beyond

Consolidating a bunch of startup tips from a variety of experiences.

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When it comes to learning and gathering knowledge, we have several sources of truth available:

1. Thirdhand experience — reading books and taking classes. These are usually teachers, professors, or authors who re-tell an account by observing a case study or the teachings of another more famous person.
2. Secondhand experience — hearing it from the mouth of mentors. These are the people who directly went through the experience.
3. Firsthand experience — going through it yourself.

And we naturally give more weight to one side of the spectrum (firsthand knowledge) versus the other (thirdhand). We have an endless breath of thirdhand knowledge, versus a very limited amount of firsthand experience. We will treat a trusted mentor’s direct advice much more valuably than a random stranger’s two cents. Burning your hand on the stove will forever teach you more about hot objects than simply hearing people talk about it.