Paul Bucheit nailed the problem: "Limited life experience + over-generalization = advice". Most startup advice is horroscope-like in its applicability and utili

Paul Bucheit nailed the problem: "Limited life experience + over-generalization = advice". Most startup advice is horroscope-like in its applicability and utility. It's very easy for advice to seem entirely right but be entirely wrong. Having a single teacher is no answer to this problem. The solution is to have a single "anchor" or goal that all incoming advice is supposed to serve. For standup comedians there's a great anchor: make people laugh. If crowds laughs at a comedian's routine, they're succeeding. If crowds don't laugh, they're failing. Paul Graham described the founder's anchor: make something people want. If users are using a startup's product, it's succeeding. If people are not using it, it's failing. This eliminates most (but not all) room for self-delusion and misjudgment. All advice for comedians should serve them in "making people laugh" and all startup advice should serve founders in "making something people want". A comedian can ask: "How will this advice help me make more people laugh, or how will it make people laugh more?" A founder can ask: "How will this advice help me make more people want our product, or how will it make people want it more?" And then its their responsibility to judge which course of action will best further their goal.