Sometimes the loudest critic of your new project just wishes they’d started first.

Harsh early criticism often has more to do with the critic’s own unstarted plans than with your work. Watching someone begin is uncomfortable for anyone who has been telling themselves it could not be done, and the fastest relief is to locate a flaw. That does not make all criticism wrong, and some of it will be genuinely useful. It does mean volume is a poor guide to accuracy.

Take the specific, fixable points and leave the rest where they fell. Ask whether the person has done the thing they are commenting on. That single question sorts most feedback quickly.