The Problem With Startup 'Experts'

Despite the most successful tech founders being centralized in the Bay Area, there are founders, accelerators, and investors located around the world. In this video, Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel discuss the phenomenon of local startup experts and why they may be doing a disservice to your entrepreneurial journey.

00:00 - Coming Up
00:21 - Intro
00:40 - Sourcing Advice
01:26 - Strange Ideas
02:29 - Best Practices
03:41 - Innovation Hub
05:21 - Advice and Therapy
06:54 - Be Picky
08:47 - Local Bad Advice
10:07 - Bay Area Advice
11:52 - Outro

[chapterme]

Chapters (Powered by ChapterMe) -
00:00 - Coming Up
00:21 - Intro
00:40 - Sourcing Advice
01:26 - Strange Ideas
02:29 - Best Practices
03:41 - On Campus Innovation Hub
05:21 - Advice and Therapy
06:54 - No advice vs Bad Advice: Be Picky
08:47 - Local Bad Advice
10:07 - Bay Area Advice
11:52 - Outro

[almi]

I didn't get into YC this April, took a bank loan, and refined my product for the market. Everyone told me not to do it. It's quite possible that this has become my best decision.

PS. That moment when you get double the benefit from both the video and the COMMENTS. Thank You, guys.

[chinfanster]

The key point is that every successful startup has their own journey. Every success is unique. Trying to learn from other people and thinking that it can lead to a success is unrealistic. You have to figure out your own way. This is the truth.

[mohammedhabeebkhan]

Many young entrepreneurs are getting caught in the allure of "Innovation Accelerators" that emphasize everything but the core essentials of building a successful startup. Instead of focusing on product development and customer engagement—the true drivers of a startup’s success—these programs often divert attention to secondary aspects like networking and other peripheral activities. This misallocation of focus can hinder real progress and distract from what matters most: creating a product that solves a genuine problem and effectively engaging with customers to refine and validate it.
Love from 🇮🇳🇮🇳.

[bericadori]

I have worked in startups and also in the eco system of incubators. A totally agree with almost everything you say. My advice is to not join a local incubator if you are not selected by a better incubator. The employees have no experience from building companies like a startup. The process of the incubation is more or less a total waste of your time. I ususally recommend startups that I meet to watch a set of videos from Y Combinator. Keep up the good work and helping people doing great things! Thank you!

[alexsyeo]

I see new Dalton & Michael video, I click. Simple.

[theborednerds]

"Go to where the top 1% of experts and investors in the industry are" is the advice I needed when I got the "just start where you are" advice. Yes, there were local experts, but the market told me I was in the wrong place and I did not listen. It is the main reason my startup failed.

[stephaneessomba]

It's not so bad to stay where you are and build your company, because sometimes you need to stay next to your market in order to feel it and build best solutions. For an entrepreneur like me living in Africa and willing to build solutions mainly for africans I've nothing to do in the Bay, at least for now, may be later when my company will grow. I think you need to be next to your market, at least at the beginning. There is great and universal advices that we can get thanks to Internet fortunately

[statebased]

My advice: it is ok to think!
I hear and see so many new entrepreneurs proud of their mistakes, when in fact, had they sat down and thought a bit before doing, they would have halved their failure count.

[raginmickens]

More videos please. Can literally listen to Dalton and Michael talk for hours.

[SouhailEntertainment]

Introduction and Question: Are You Getting the Best Startup Advice? - 00:00:00
The Challenges of Debugging Bad Advice - 00:00:37
Seeking Advice from the Right Sources - 00:02:42
Local Ecosystems and Misaligned Incentives - 00:03:50
The Appeal and Pitfalls of Local Advisors - 00:05:23
The Importance of Trusted Support Systems - 00:06:21
Online Resources vs. Local Bad Advice - 00:06:57
Examples of Worse Than Nothing - 00:07:36
The Impact of Local Bad Advice on Startups - 00:08:44
Innovation Labs and Misaligned Motivations - 00:09:13
Advantages of Bay Area Density and Optimism - 00:10:15
Contrast Between Bay Area Advice and Local Advice - 00:10:51
The Value of Good Advice and Optimism - 00:11:30
Final Thoughts and Recommendations - 00:12:01

[jdavidson]

Jesus, I feel like these people make videos for themselves. Yes, YC has been successful but what has worked in the past doesn't guarantee future success. The "good" advice they think they have could be and probably is outdated. The idea you have to be in the Bay Area to build a quality network is just dumb. Look all the the successful $1B+ remote companies that have been built over the past several years. Dont get caught in the past.

[bastienm]

So just advice from someone else than them is probably bad advice ? :p I'm kind of disappointed by this video. I was expecting tips to help me distinguish good advice between bad ones

[harrison]

1:50 Something like that happened to me once.
I didn't have to chnage my whole world view on it, but i did have to expand my perspective to not just internet startups.
Now I know that each business has its own underlying dynamics.
Sure, there are overlaps between industries, but each niche is different.
The strategy for an internet startup is probably quite different than a hot dog stand for fairs, festivals and other events.

I had to basically unlearn an ideology.
I'm glad someone helped me
and getting a bit older helped as well.

10:07 Those are some good tips. They aren't complicated, but are very important.
Don't discount the basics.

[neuhanse]

Perfect timing, I just made a coffee. Let's watch!

[odysseytravelapp]

Thanks. Yeah I get bombarded with teams offering advice via these startup programs. The top companies/experts are unobtainable for people like me. Wild

[equinoxgaming]

That's why I prefer to take advice from people on the ground. Not the manager, not the founder, n definitely the friendly investor.

[ChrisAthanas]

11:16 great advice for a ZIRP environment in 2017

[soyeljefe]

Hate to call them out but a good example is SaaS Academy and similar companies. On paper it looks good, but they charge a lot for “startup advice” that is a lot of fluff and not really based on building great products but rather focused on selling mid products. Just be picky folks.

[msolomonbush]

Those who can't do will teach - but not all those who teach can't do.