#57 — Advice

We live in a world with infinite advice. Tweets, mentors, ninjas, books, podcasts, gurus. It’s coming at us unfiltered, whether we want it or not.

Imagine the two extremes:

1. Listen to everyone. React to all advice. 😬

2. Have blind confidence. Never adjust. 🤷‍♂️

Navigating this balance is a challenge when doing hard things, new things, and anything that strives to be non-consensus and right.

I asked Julian Alvarez about his approach.

He was a perfect case study because he didn’t fit the pattern. When people met him, they saw:

• 🆘 No technical co-founder .

• 🆘 No domain expertise.

• 🆘 Entering a market that nobody believed would buy tech.

1+1+1 = 7 boatloads of doubt.

In fact, “you should pivot!” was the common advice he heard in TechStars. He didn’t shut down all feedback, but he figured out how to block out the noise.

His lesson:

“if you try to execute on the feedback and the advice from everybody you'll get nowhere”

How he does it:

“…ultimately it boils down to you and to the team. No one understands the business better than the people that live and breathe it every day. So I take all of that feedback, build a framework around it, and then decide what I want to take and what I don’t want to take.”

His story isn't a blind confidence in the face of doubt.

It's about how to listen, pick the right sources and signals, and then build conviction by doing the work.

Fast forward to 2021 and Logixboard was growing 30% M/M, raised a $13M series A led by RedPoint, and Julian's vision for freight forwarding software is coming true.

Julian has a great way of sharing his lessons.

I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Overcast

Replies always welcome.