Stop Being So Condescending To Entrepreneurs
Or rather, stop letting so-called startup experts talk down to you
--
In this week’s issue of Teaching Startup, we answered an entrepreneur’s question about how to transform a successful, revenue-generating business by building technology around that business to launch an even bigger and better business.
That’s the kind of thing we do.
I didn’t answer this particular question (I answered another about partnerships). Instead, this answer came from a guest advisor, one who left the startup world and has spent the last year or so trying to level up entrepreneurs to a more technical foundation without having to spend a lifetime learning to code.
I would have killed for that answer earlier in my career. But you know what? I’m equally glad to have heard it now, because I learned something.
So what does that have to do with the general state of startup advice?
Well, as Teaching Startup continues to grow, I want to make it less about me and more about the answers and advice, so I’ve started reaching out to bring on more guest advisors to answer even more questions from even more entrepreneurs. I’ve been lucky so far, finding smart, experienced people who can offer up great answers to thorny questions.
But I keep running into a problem.
A lot of people who claim to be startup advisors and experts are condescending as hell.
I already knew this to be the case. But now I’ve figured out the source of the problem, and I’ve come up with a way to identify it and counter it.
Even if you care nothing about me or Teaching Startup, I want you to take this advice to heart every time someone offers to help you grow your business.
Condescension masks a lack of confidence
The startup advice world is rife with useless advice, and advisors who blame the advisee for not executing on the useless advice properly.
This is probably not news to you.
There are a lot of possible root causes for why it happens, but a common thread weaves through all of them: There’s a distinct lack of…
