My razor is ordered... and should be to me fairly soon so I ask...

Should I let my beard grow out a little for the first time I use the straight razor, or should it be only a short time of growth for the first shave? Which will be easier to shave while learning? Does it matter?

I saw a video on here of a guy who had probably a couple of weeks of growth and shaved through it like butter... now, I assume much of that was his skill level, but it got me thinking about the first shave.

So, thoughts on that? Any other pointers on a first shave you want to through out there? (I've been reading stuff on here, but there may be something you just thought of or a specific thing you think is more important.)