Guidery produces instructional articles that explain the best way for most people to learn a given skill.
Our team of researchers, fact-checkers, and subject matter experts painstakingly research and test skill-focused classes, books, techniques, methods, services and equipment in order to determine the best learning paths for most people. With our recommendations, you can avoid wasting time, energy, and money and start using the best learning methods from the moment you start learning a new skill.
We thrive on feedback. Contact us and let us know what you think of our work or ask us any questions you might have.
01Our Mission
Have you ever spent a lot of time, effort, and money to learn a skill, only to later realize there was a much more efficient way? Maybe it was a different book, a better teacher, some online guide, etc.
Well, our mission is to always recommend that better way.
No matter what the skill is, we create guides that recommend unimpeachably effective ways of learning it. We’ll also give you the necessary background, lingo, and resources so you can break into communities of practitioners without making a fool of yourself.
We’ve all been there. Better to go prepared.
02Who we are
In a word: geeks!
We’re generalists. Skill hackers. Dabblers. Jacks-of-all-trades (but masters of one or two, thank you).
Guidery was founded by Danny Dover, a generalist who spent 10 years pursuing and eventually completing his 150+ item life goals list. (Items included mountain climbing in Antarctica, visiting nearly 100 countries, writing two published books, living alone in the wilderness for a month, and nearly 150 more goals.) Through his journey, Danny discovered the benefits and joy of learning a large breadth of skills built on top of the foundation of a few specialized skills, and chose to spend the next 10 years of his life enabling others to become generalists.
Guidery is now made up of an entire team of obsessed skill seekers.
Justified or not, we simply believe life is too short to focus on one thing. It’s far richer to learn broadly, and be able to maneuver confidently in a variety of domains. Think Jason Bourne, but without the amnesia and violence.
03How we make money
We make money through affiliate links.
This means that if you choose to click the links on our site and subsequently buy the products or services that we recommend, we often – but not always – make some fraction of the money you spend. This happens without any added cost to you.
If one of our recommendations is lousy and you return your purchase, we lose money. In this way, we are incentivized to only recommend what are truly the best options for you.
To ensure the integrity of our recommendations, our researchers, writers, and editors are never made aware of which products, services, or companies we may have established affiliate relationships with. You can read our full ethics policy here.
04Skills vs. services
There are many skills – some aspects of car maintenance, for example – that are both more cost-effective and time-effective for most people to hire a mechanic, rather than learn the skill themselves.
In these cases, our experts research the best way for most people to find, say, a trustworthy and qualified mechanic in their area.
05Standing on the shoulders of giants
Big ups to the compulsive learners, interdisciplinary explorers, and polymaths who came before us. Our inspirations include:
- Brian Lam
- Maria Montessori
- Arthur Kallet and Colston Warne
- Jimmy Wales
- Tim Urban
- Shane Parish
- Larry Page and Sergey Brin
And many others. Thank you.