Venture capital only cares about the exceptions. That’s the power law in action. Best practices are designed to reproduce the average outcome and in a world governed by power laws, the average outcome
My thought about this is that when something works once for someone, they make a playbook about "how they did it." I'm not a fan of most playbooks, as they mostly make money for the creator while leaving most users in the dust.
When a bunch of people use a playbook, and some elements of it works for many of them, then over time some of these playbook elements can become "best practices." I do like to consider best practices when looking at addressing issues, but they can't be used blindly or alone. They are generally but a single element among many that go into the decision-making process.
But think about it, there are always so many variables and circumstances that come into play in any given situation. The best course of action is for the founder to use their intelligence to synthesize all the inputs into a cohesive whole of understanding, and then make an intelligent decision given all of that.
Most playbooks, best practices, and even AI at this point are not able to do that, and that's why they so often don't achieve the outcomes that were hoped for.
Playbooks and best practices are useful inputs, but they're not substitutes for thinking. They're summaries of what worked in one context, at one point in time.
The founder's job is knowing when today's context requires a different answer.
My thought about this is that when something works once for someone, they make a playbook about "how they did it." I'm not a fan of most playbooks, as they mostly make money for the creator while leaving most users in the dust.
When a bunch of people use a playbook, and some elements of it works for many of them, then over time some of these playbook elements can become "best practices." I do like to consider best practices when looking at addressing issues, but they can't be used blindly or alone. They are generally but a single element among many that go into the decision-making process.
But think about it, there are always so many variables and circumstances that come into play in any given situation. The best course of action is for the founder to use their intelligence to synthesize all the inputs into a cohesive whole of understanding, and then make an intelligent decision given all of that.
Most playbooks, best practices, and even AI at this point are not able to do that, and that's why they so often don't achieve the outcomes that were hoped for.
I think that's exactly where judgment comes in.
Playbooks and best practices are useful inputs, but they're not substitutes for thinking. They're summaries of what worked in one context, at one point in time.
The founder's job is knowing when today's context requires a different answer.