Can you remember the best advice you ever got? Do you recall that nugget of wisdom occasionally—or perhaps even daily—to guide your decisions and inspire you to take action?
Here, entrepreneurs and employees at buzzy companies share their stories on the best advice they ever received. See if you can apply their shared wisdom to your career.
Ted Power, Co-Founder at Abacus:
“In the early days of Abacus, Paul Buchheit gave us some key advice: ‘release early.’ We were in private beta and wanted to spend a few months getting everything into shape before a public launch. Paul Buchheit pushed us to launch within the week. And it was a good thing he did—one thing we’ve learned (and relearned) is that there’s no substitute for actual customer feedback. It’s important to get a feedback loop spinning as early as possible.”
Justin Lapidus, Business Analyst at Brooklinen
“My brother, a comedic film and TV director, told me ‘If you look forward to your morning coffee more than your look forward to your job, you should
quit.’ I like to use this advice when I am unsure if I am truly happy at my work or if what I am doing is really fulfilling. It has helped me get out of multiple jobs I would probably have otherwise stayed in. The next logical lesson here is—be wary of companies with great coffee.”
Sarah Maiellano, co-founder of the Homemade Gin Kit:
“A colleague at my first job gave me great advice for fitting in with older professionals at meetings and events. He said: Before going to a work lunch or cocktail party, read that day’s newspaper, especially the sports section. What great advice! At the time, for a 22-year-old woman coming from a modest upbringing, being in situations with older professionals—mostly middle-aged men—was intimidating. Being armed with relevant topics and tidbits of information put me at ease. Staying current on sports is especially helpful. A few years ago, I found myself alone in a room full of state legislators and was able to talk about what was happening with their NFL teams, even though I’d never been to most of their states!”
Timothy Parcell, VP of Experience Planning at Allen & Gerritsen:
“The best advice I ever got on being a leader: one of my first Creative Directors, John Wolfarth, said my job was to take risks to solve the client’s problem. And his job was to let me take those risks and if they panned out, to step back and let me take the credit. If they didn’t [pan out], it was his job to take the blame for letting me do that. Years later, as a director, I take that same approach with my teams. Whomever takes the risk gains the rewards and only half the blame if things go south.
“The best advice I ever got… on presenting creative work: On one of my first pitches, the managing director pulled me aside after a review of the deck and said to me, “I know all the details are important. But you need to pick the three things that you would share in an elevator. The ones you would regret not saying aloud. And just do those. Since that day and hundreds of creative presentations later, I focus on the people in the room and not the details on the page.”
Tessa Wolf, creative director at Framebridge:
“The best advice I ever got was to keep a record of everything I did that I was proud of, both at work and outside of work. When you’re applying to a new job or trying to get approval to try something new at your current job, it’s a thousand times easier to get ahead by having examples of your ‘wins’ that you can point to. Now that everything’s online, this is not hard—your blog, Instagram feed or Pinterest boards can be a record of your best ideas and strongest work AND you can easily link anyone straight to them!”
Michael Brandt, COO at Nootrobox:
“’Play the game that you want to get good at,’ is what my former manager at Google told me. There’s 24 hours in a day and no one has any more time in the day than anyone else. Whatever you’re putting your attention to, that’s what you’re getting good at. If you’re watching Netflix, you’re getting good at knowing Netflix characters, so spend your time doing things that you truly want to get good at.”