[arkitaip]

This is the sort of Top10ListWisdom rubbish that's almost tautological in nature and worthless when it actually comes to running a business.

[jamesbritt]

... and worthless when it actually comes to running a business.

They may or may not be worthless, but I don't see how Bob Parson can even know this.

How many times has he become a billionaire that he (or anyone) can extract just those behaviors that in fact make a difference from those that are mere coincidence.

How do these "rules" stack up when examined in the context of people who don't become billionaires, or even reasonably successful?

As an example, I bet there are at least a few people who did quite well by sticking to what they knew and what they felt comfortable with and who would have not succeeded had they stepped out of their comfort zone.

The book The Halo Effect covers this fairly well.

http://www.the-halo-effect.com/

[klbarry]

I suppose everyone has to learn for themselves (it doesn't internalize from a list), but there is value in the lessons. It would probably stick better in story form.

For instance, I cannot tell you how many times success came after getting very close to giving up. I left college after one semester to find work, and taught myself basic SEO. After ranking my local pizza shop to number one to prove I could do it, I started cold calling the big businesses in my neighborhood to do work for them. My awkward self called thirty-ish businesses, on a list of thirty five, then gave up. My girlfriend encouraged me to try one more, and sure enough they bit. Without this experience my life track would have been substantially different.

[iamwil]

This is advice that seem vapid until you end up learning them yourself. It's hard to extract the real-life story and experience from just the list.

This sort of thing only reaffirms those that have already learned the lessons, and brushed off as vapid from those that haven't.

[lsc]

I don't think the parent was saying "Don't give up" was bad advice, just that it was obvious "almost tautological in nature"

Anyone who has achieved any level of success in anything is going to have a "I almost gave up... then I succeeded! I am so glad I didn't give up." story. I have some.

Saying "Don't give up" is just not useful advice. I mean, it might be useful encouragement for some people; some people respond well to inspirational stories. but that's kindof a different thing than advice, if you ask me.