Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
David Pivnick on the Worst Professional Advice He’s Ever Received 5-23-25
23 May 2025
In this episode, David Pivnick, Partner at McGuireWoods LLP, joins the podcast to unpack some of the worst professional advice he’s encountered.
Full Episode
This is Scott Becker with the Becker Private Equity and Business Podcast. We're thrilled to recently pass 7 million downloads on the podcast. Also thrilled to recently be at the very top of the Apple Business News rankings and reach 20,000 plus subscribers on our newsletter.
But far more important than that, we've got today one of the most brilliant colleagues I get a chance to work with, David Pivnik. David joins us regularly. He's one of our most listened to guests. And he's absolutely brilliant. Aside from being a valedictorian analyst, in law school, meaning he finished number one in his class, which is just incredibly difficult to do.
He also is well-read and he's well-opinionated on almost any subject under the sun. David, today we're going to take a question. You so often get from people in podcasts and interviews and discussions, you know, what's the best advice you ever got? What's the, you know, what did your mentor tell you? What did you read that was the best advice? We're going to take the opposite tack today.
Today's discussion is David Pivnik on what's the worst advice you've ever received. And I'll add in some of my thoughts as well. David, let me ask you to tee it up. What's some of the worst advice that you've been given or seen people give over the years?
Sure. I mean, the two things that come to mind, it's a weird question, and I appreciate you having me on and following kind words about me after talking about your 7 million impressions and all your other accolades, which outshine all. But usually people, as you said, ask about what's great advice, what advice would you pass on.
It was a little bit of a challenge when you said you might be asking me about the worst advice. But two things come to mind, and one of them is pretty well-trod advice that people dispense all the time, but I think it's not great, which is good things come to those who wait.
And then the second thing that came to mind, which is probably less given, but I've certainly heard a variety of times over the years, and maybe I hear it more than the average, is just try and fit in. Don't stand out. And I think those are just both generally bad pieces of advice in some ways for the same reasons. But, you know, the notion of good things come to those who wait.
I mean, first of all, I think that is an inherent excuse. And the people offering that advice are often offering it because they're about to tell you no, just something that you're looking to accomplish or somewhere you're trying to go. And so right off the bat, I think it's a bit of a,
huge piece of advice where it's usually being offered by someone who has a vested interest in the recipients of that advice waiting.
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