In the end, the best way to learn how to start a startup is to ignore everything and just do it. Other people will tell you the best way to have started their company. No one is going to be able to teach you how to start yours.

To be clear, I'm not saying that there's not good advice floating around. There is. The trick is knowing how to separate the bad from the good, and as someone who's new to the startup world, that's pretty hard (impossible?) to do.