Seems like that depends on what kind of conventional startup wisdom you're thinking about. For example, from what I've read about SaaS business plans, the conventional approach is drawn from the experiences and data of hundreds (or thousands?) of SaaS companies. It's not done with scientific rigor, but it's not individual founders making hasty conclusions based on their own outcomes either.
Understanding the conceptual model behind a SaaS business plan, the kind of metrics that people find valuable and concrete techniques that other companies have found effective seems worth doing even if you have your own theory or approach that's explicitly different—for the same reasons lisper mentioned for scientific knowledge, just at a smaller scale.
I single out SaaS not because it's necessarily more systematic than other tech business plans—I suspect that it is, but don't have a real basis for that—but because I've read more about that than other kinds of companies. I'm sure there is a lot of valuable collective knowledge for any sort of product or company you want to build and the advantages you get from learning that should outweigh any priming effect the knowledge has, as long as you are intentional in deviating from the "conventional" path.
My thoughts went to SaaS startups in particular when reading the essay - most are highly conventional and seem largely a result of VC-like market analysis and application of a well-honed SaaS playbook, not some place where unconventional and novel thinking is deployed and benign ignorance of a market is desirable. The only surprise as an outsider is really the size some markets turn out to be, not the decision to go into the market nor the solution settled upon.
This suggests to me many/most are started by people looking for a relatively conventional experience, just with a bit more appetite for risk. None of the attributes for these positions are required in much greater degree than elsewhere in tech - curiosity, resistance to being told what to think, or fastidiousness to truth. Perhaps it's a testament to YC's success that the choice to found a startup is more accessible to 'conventional thinkers' these days. No value judgment - we should let a thousand flowers bloom! - but the conflation of startups to the above attributes of 'independent thinkers' is perhaps overblown.
But that's collective wisdom for how to do something - not collective wisdom that something can't be done. If the industry had decided that SaaS was impossible, that would be an example of collective wisdom to ignore.
Understanding the conceptual model behind a SaaS business plan, the kind of metrics that people find valuable and concrete techniques that other companies have found effective seems worth doing even if you have your own theory or approach that's explicitly different—for the same reasons lisper mentioned for scientific knowledge, just at a smaller scale.
I single out SaaS not because it's necessarily more systematic than other tech business plans—I suspect that it is, but don't have a real basis for that—but because I've read more about that than other kinds of companies. I'm sure there is a lot of valuable collective knowledge for any sort of product or company you want to build and the advantages you get from learning that should outweigh any priming effect the knowledge has, as long as you are intentional in deviating from the "conventional" path.