1621: Honest Writing AND Dangerous Advice by Ryan Hoover of Product Hunt

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[00:00:30] This is Optimal Work Daily. Honest Writing by Ryan Hoover of RyanHoover.me Last week I published Knowing When It's Time to Move On, sharing my Playhaven story and reasons for leaving the successful startup. The post hit the Medium homepage, receiving thousands of pageviews and more than 90 recommendations. I was astounded, not by the attention it generated, but from the flood of emails I received as a result. I wasn't alone. Dozens of readers,

[00:00:59] people I had never spoken with, emailed me expressing empathy and support. My story echoed their own feelings and experiences. For that moment, we connected. Here are excerpts of those emails. Quote, Super weird to email you at this late hour. I just finished reading your article on Medium. I told myself I'm going to write you an email because I'm going through something similar.

[00:01:21] I think we all know when it's time to move on, but we're afraid to take action because of job security, lack of confidence, or simply too lazy to update our resumes. I'm a strong believer that passion is no longer a differentiator, but a prerequisite. Besides, life is too short to not be doing what you enjoy.

[00:01:39] Just read your post about leaving your job. I went through similar emotions a few months back. The company was growing at a rapid pace, and money was good. Great team. But my heart wasn't in it. So I left the job and traveled to South America. Wow, your article was so powerful. The point about your passion for gaming dwindling really hit home with me since the reason I got excited to work in my startup was because of my passion for smart connected devices, which has been dwindling to be honest.

[00:02:06] It's really a strong reminder to reflect on how far I've come, where I'm at, and where I want to go. Just read your post about leaving Playhaven. Great post. Really resonated. I felt very much the same way at my job. I recognized the importance to invest in myself, and that wasn't happening anymore. I quit learning. Just read your article and wanted to wish you the best of luck at whatever you decide to do next. I actually just put in my notice last Friday at Redacted.

[00:02:33] Your article summarized many of the feelings I've had and are aligned with the reasons I know it's personally time for me to move on. End quote.

[00:02:40] End quote.

[00:03:10] We all struggle. We all have insecurities. We bury them inside in hopes of saving face, when in reality, we're not alone. People appreciate honesty. It makes writers relatable. And through honest writing, a genuine human connection can form. Those I most respect write with vulnerability and transparency. Danielle Morrill openly wrote about the failure of her startup, Referly. She retells her story with transparency, describing her, quote-unquote, zombie startup, and reasons for moving on.

[00:03:40] I admire Danielle's openness as her story sticks with me months later. D. Keith Robinson wrote about being introverted, writing, quote, End quote. Being introverted isn't cool and often looked down upon, but DKR risked judgment to instill confidence in others.

[00:04:07] His essay described feelings and personality traits of myself I've never been able to articulate. And through his honesty, I learned more about myself. Several weeks ago, I stumbled across Winnie Lim's blog and immediately fell in love with her vulnerability. She expressed her past insecurities, lack of confidence, phobia of people, difficulties in school, and questions of self-worth. Real, honest s***. I have tremendous respect for Winnie, and through her writing, we formed a friendship.

[00:04:35] I encourage everyone to write with honesty. But people will judge me, you might say. Maybe, but what are you giving up? Honest writing is a vehicle for learning about oneself, inspiring confidence in others, and forming authentic relationships. Share your story, and remember, you're not alone. Dangerous Advice by Ryan Hoover of ryanhoover.me Startup advice is everywhere.

[00:05:04] Books, blogs, podcasts, comment threads, and face-to-face conversations inundate us. Everyone has an opinion, an experience to share. That's a great thing, but advice taken blindly can be dangerous. Here are some truths I've internalized when seeking and giving advice. Context matters. Your market, audience, and several other factors must be considered. Advice given to an early-stage mobile consumer app is much different than a mature SaaS business.

[00:05:33] This is, of course, an extreme example, but even a slight lack of context can render advice useless, or worse, damaging. Context changes. Markets and people change. As technology evolves and new user behaviors form, so must startups. Zynga and many other early adopters of the Facebook platform capitalized on the social network's API and loose policies to create a massive audience through highly viral techniques.

[00:06:00] Quickly, the gold rush faded as Facebook added restrictions and contracted its API capabilities. The context changed, and Zynga's growth engine was crippled overnight. Tactics and best practices that worked yesterday may not be applicable today. Disagreement is good. As Nir Eyal describes, when there's consensus around a particular idea, the market becomes extremely competitive as everyone chases the same goal.

[00:06:26] Some of the most successful startups, like Twitter, were non-consensus ideas. Early on, many doubted the value of 140-character SMS updates. Today, its remarkable influence is unquestionable. Going against popular perception is your best strategy more often than not. Advice rarely provides the answer. No advisor, blog, or book knows your business as well as you do. At best, advice can identify wrong answers, pointing you in the right direction.

[00:06:55] This is why the best advisors and mentors don't necessarily tell you what to do. They ask the right questions. They influence your way of thinking. At best, advice is a metal detector, a tool to help entrepreneurs navigate, but you still need to do the hard work to find the hidden treasure. So, advice isn't very useful, right? Absolutely not. There's much to be learned from experienced entrepreneurs and those that can offer a unique perspective. But be conscious of how you digest this advice. Poke holes in it.

[00:07:24] Adapt it to your context. Recognize it's probably not the silver bullet you're looking for. You just listened to the posts titled Honest Writing and Dangerous Advice, both by Ryan Hoover of RyanHoover.me All right, that should do it for today. Hope you enjoyed our posts from Ryan Hoover, and that you have a great rest of your day. As for me, I'll be back here with you tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits. Thanks. Thanks. I'll be back here with you tomorrow,