Every so often I start to write a blog post, and think to myself, “I can’t write about X and share this information publicly,” and then that post stays as a draft or gets deleted and I think of something I can write about. This happens once every few weeks but since starting SocialRank last year it has been happening more frequently and has me thinking about all the posts people can’t write.
Once in a while the post cracks through or I write about it months after the fact so no one can get upset about it. But all of this has me thinking that the knowledge I’m not sharing (and more) is out there in different forms and probably the best reason for joining a startup and learning from someone (that knows what they are doing) before starting one yourself.
There were tons of things I learned at Aviary and Dwolla that saved me countless hours once Michael and I started SocialRank. These things will never be read about in blog posts or reported in the press. In fact, it is very rare for any real operational skills to be passed along on a press blog or when a founder decides to share knowledge. But even the knowhow that does surface - it is a pittance to what is really out there.
The posts that can’t be written (and subsequently will not be read) anywhere is the biggest reason for getting experience and being around the best. All the inside baseball that no tech reporter will ever discover and no founder would publicize is the real stuff you need to know to be successful at starting your own business.
So if your goal is to start your own company and are just starting out, find a startup with a team that knows what they are doing, go work for the founders, learn everything, soak it all up, and when the time comes for you to do your own thing you will be in a 100x better position to succeed.
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