I think without the detail some of this type of general advice can also be viewed as harmful. Because like with any advice it totally depends on specifics and circumstances. Maybe it applies may it doesn't. How would someone starting out know?
For example:
"Don’t waste your time on stuff that doesn’t matter (i.e. things other than building your product, talking to your users, growing, etc.). "
So "stuff that doesn't matter" is everything but "building your product, talking to your users, growing, etc.?" (What is "etc" for that matter?)
By that token, if interpreted literally, it would mean "stop reading hacker news" or it could mean "don't worry about hiring anyone until you need to hire someone". Or "don't bother with backing up or security aspects". And so on. And we know that isn't what he means, right? Or is he assuming everyone can figure out exactly where the boundaries are?
The truth is everything is a matter of degree and nuance and quite frankly if you are starting out you really don't have the experience to to know how to navigate things with general guidelines.
As anyone knows who knows a great deal about a particular subject knows you often end up having people who ask you questions and start by telling you something they read online. (Happens to Physicians as well). And what they tell doesn't typically apply to their specific circumstances because you can't have a conversation with a blog post.
For example:
"Don’t waste your time on stuff that doesn’t matter (i.e. things other than building your product, talking to your users, growing, etc.). "
So "stuff that doesn't matter" is everything but "building your product, talking to your users, growing, etc.?" (What is "etc" for that matter?)
By that token, if interpreted literally, it would mean "stop reading hacker news" or it could mean "don't worry about hiring anyone until you need to hire someone". Or "don't bother with backing up or security aspects". And so on. And we know that isn't what he means, right? Or is he assuming everyone can figure out exactly where the boundaries are?
The truth is everything is a matter of degree and nuance and quite frankly if you are starting out you really don't have the experience to to know how to navigate things with general guidelines.
As anyone knows who knows a great deal about a particular subject knows you often end up having people who ask you questions and start by telling you something they read online. (Happens to Physicians as well). And what they tell doesn't typically apply to their specific circumstances because you can't have a conversation with a blog post.