[rdl]

There's some bad advice in here, IMO, although overall it's decent.

Fundamentally I think there isn't much value in laying out every detail of running a company from zero to scale, since initially all that matters is doing as few things as possible and not even thinking about what kind of org chart or employee handbook you'll need later. A huge document like this kind of deters people at best, or at worst convinces them to worry about the wrong things at the wrong time.

I don't really feel like going through every single point, but e.g. the advice to do non-standard vesting is bad (4/1 is standard, and even if you think 6/3mo is better, it is worse by virtue of being non-standard), and the "advisory thing" is really not something you need at all. There's a lot of focus in the early part on stuff which is non-productive. (I stopped reading before the later stage).

A lot of advice needs to be highly specific to time and place. Someone starting a business in a place where most potential hires are familiar with startups is entirely different from doing so elsewhere.

[bsims]

One of the things I appreciate about Ryan and the information he shares is that he provides very detailed information and a lot of it. He leaves it to the reader to determine what parts are helpful, which varies by what stage each company is at to your point.

However, I'd rather have too much information and be able to determine what is helpful myself at that point in time than to have someone choose to provide less information.

[radiusq]

That's great for you. But what about the new CEO with no experience? Lots in here to lead them down the wrong path.

[jvoorhis]

Possibly, but that same inexperienced CEO could find misleading information elsewhere. Instead of limiting access, let them judge for themselves.