[gumby]

> Sometimes their advice is right, and sometimes it's wrong? That doesn't sound particularly valuable.

As others have commented, all advice is like that. The person offering it cannot know your precise situation, but just pattern match on what they hear. That's life.

I turn this around the other way: if I am asked for my advice but the asker uses none of it, I don't feel bad, but stop offering advice. I'm clearly not the right person to be helping them.

But the opposite is true too: if the asker takes 100% of my advice then they aren't thinking about their business (or whatever they're asking about). And so I won't offer them any more advice either.

[jseliger]

As Gildor says in The Fellowship of the Ring:

    ” ‘… The choice is yours: to go or wait.’ [Gildor said.]
    ‘And it is also said,’ answered Frodo, ‘Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.’
    ‘Is it indeed?’ laughed Gildor. ‘Elves seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill. But what would you? You have not told me all concerning yourself; how should I choose better than you? But if you demand advice, I will for friendship’s sake give it.’“

[xiphias2]

Whenever I see interviews with YC advisors, they blame mistakes of founders of not taking their advice as the biggest as mistake.

I don't have a strong opinion on this, and I believe YC is worth it, as 7% of nothing is still nothing, so any way a startup can decrease its risks is great.

[indymike]

> Whenever I see interviews with YC advisors, they blame mistakes of founders of not taking their advice as the biggest as mistake.

This is normal human behavior. You did X and failed. If only you had done Y as I had suggested... Monday morning quarterbacking at it's finest.

[im_down_w_otp]

My experience is usually more like being told to do X, me saying X probably isn’t worth the time and energy, doing X anyway at their prompting assuming they’ll take some accountability for it going sideways, it ultimately going sideways because it was a bad idea, and then them taking zero accountability for their bad idea and not helping with the fact we’ve now been materially set back by the attempt.

I’ve since learned to align our incentives around advice. If they’ll put their money where their mouth is to stand behind their advice, then it’s good advice. If they won’t, then it’s bad advice and I’m just their lab rat.

[mahmoudimus]

As someone who has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for venture capital backed companies, I can tell you that this absolutely does not change even at the highest level of the company.

My advice from experience - if the advice you're receiving is wrong and you know it's wrong, explain why it's wrong and if you're pressured to go against your advice, then that person is not a fit for you and you should part ways.

[im_down_w_otp]

Thanks for the tip. That’s more or less where I’ve ended up with things. Initially I was obstinate to predictable deleterious result. Then I went through being compliant only to be hung out to dry for abiding when it didn’t work out. Then I went through a phase of trying to educate in hopes of them coming around to no avail. Now I just look for stronger signs of alignment right out of the gate before even bothering to spend the time engaging at all.

[indymike]

> My advice from experience - if the advice you're receiving is wrong and you know it's wrong, explain why it's wrong and if you're pressured to go against your advice, then that person is not a fit for you and you should part ways.

I've raised about 5 million from VC... and agree at least 100% with this advice.