The other day I stumbled across a quote that stuck with me:
In helping create a BrainHuddle community, I want to help create value and not give out generalized advice that is of limited usefulness. Despite having strong feelings regarding startups, my life experiences in this area could certainly fall under the limited classification. Fresh out of college I joined a startup in a young state and was lucky enough to experience some of the highs and lows of startup life and then acquisition. However my experiences in the startup arena are mainly technical. I’m interested in finding ways to provide unique benefit to those who are in a similar situation to myself – looking to begin and/or develop new ideas.
One idea I’ve been considering lately is documenting the development of a business idea on the public stage. I’m thinking of creating a sort of startup case study where I can openly show just what steps and investments (time & money) are involved in bringing a simple business idea to life and what kind of return I see for that investment. I’m always appreciative of people who are willing to openly describe the investment and rewards of their work. I’m hoping to bring a new idea to life soon and let its progress(or non-progress) unfold in the open in hopes that others in a similar situation can get an idea of what awaits them. I’m also very open to helping others share this type of information in order to provide a growing body of experience-based, specific advice that can help move our ideas forward.
I’m excited to hear your idea unfold. I think we all like to have some sort of vicarious experience that we deem as credible. “It’s like I was actually there.” is often one of the greatest accomplishments of an experience shared.
However, the problem with specific, experience-based advice is that it is exactly that specific and seen through your talents and biases. That is the beauty of theory-it is a way of looking at the world that can be consistently be applied to numerous circumstances and situations with similar results.
A professional athelete might be able to teach me the mechanics of a particular sport but I will lack the talent needed to produce the same results. Then again theory isn’t going to take the place of actual experience but it does give a good starting point. Just my two cents.
Its true about advice, its usually to general or to specific. Just be sure to collect more than one piece of advice and then make your own decisions! Some of the most successful people rejected advice from a lot of others in the name of innovation.