from Hacker News

Seeking advice in startups – a framework built on mastery and method

by tmatthewj on 7/5/21, 4:06 PM with 10 comments

• by kfarr on 7/5/21, 5:18 PM

  This is excellent advice (am I being too prescriptive?). Don't be fooled by the simplicity of this post, it's very easy to get lost in personalities and other red herrings but an expert who is willing to take the time to reflect on a problem with you is rare and golden.

• by tmatthewj on 7/5/21, 4:09 PM

  This is built on the notion of wicked environment defined by psychologist Robin Hogarth, and which was popularised by David Epstein in his book Range.

• by tibbetts on 7/5/21, 6:39 PM

  I would tend to flip the value of reflective novices and prescriptive masters. Or rather, I’m often successful with advice from reflective people who have minimal mastery. Like, I’ll take reflective advice from an entrepreneur who has only ever sold one company over prescriptive advice from a banker who has sold dozens. In particular, the prescriptive advisor often not only makes flawed assumptions about your situation, but also about your goals. Someone who is good at reflective advice can be good at it even in unfamiliar situations.

  I try to be a reflective advisor, and it’s interesting how often people coming to me for advice want prescriptive and push in that direction. In fact this article just made me realize i mad that mistake just last week, giving prescriptive advice without really understanding the situation, because they leaned on areas where I identify as having deep expertise.

• by the_arun on 7/5/21, 9:29 PM

  Do these prescriptive advisors know what they are doing wrong and improve their style? OR do they often think they are doing great?

• by saleheen on 7/5/21, 6:01 PM

  Great advice. Thanks for sharing

• by loneranger_11x on 7/5/21, 4:42 PM

  tl;dr: order by mastery desc, method desc - when looking for advisors