Two things that hasn't been mentioned here yet: #1 - is that you need to develop a filter for the advice you'll get. You need to learn when to ignore advice, h

Two things that hasn't been mentioned here yet: #1 - is that you need to develop a filter for the advice you'll get. You need to learn when to ignore advice, how to make it so that you don't piss people off when you ignore their advice, and how to handle it when you do ignore their advice yet they were actually right. You also need to develop self confidence in your own independent decision making ability #2 - is that, just because someone has "been there, done that, been successful" doesn't mean that their advice/approach will work for you. Many startups hire on big, powerful people who have had exits/successes yet they don't work out. There can be any myriad of reasons but just remember: "past success != future success".