Zero - practice always makes perfect. I suggest saving replays of games too, especially if you lose. Then watch the replays and observe a bit in regards to what your opponent was doing.
If I had to try to simplify things, I'd say that you should always remember these things :
1. As Craig said, if you expand, make sure to upgrade the civ infrastructure on your planets and asteroids.
2. Remember that you get one free capital ship at the start of the game. This is really important as it makes expanding a heck of a lot easier.
3. Decide early what sort of game you want to play. If you want to build a good economy, tech more civ boosting techs. If you want to buff up your ships and get access to the top tier frames, tech military techs.
4. Treat pirate raid bids like you would an ebay auction. Don't bit them up to all heck early on, wait until the very final moments. You'll usually see a good 10-20 seconds of bidding time after the timer reaches 0:00.
5. LRMs are still your friend, even if made more expensive. Mixing your fleet with some other ships does help, but LRMs are primarily the meat and potatoes of most early to middle game confrontations.
6. Avoid Dead Asteroids as expansion points unless you really want tactical spots for defenses or repair centers at a chokepoint.
7. Vasari in my opinion are probably the easiest to play, especially with LRM missile upgrades researched which allow a percentage of shield bypass. Their mothership which can colonize bases is a very useful capital ship at all stages of the game.
8. I'd suggest avoiding the Advent until you get to know the game better. Culture right now is a bit iffy in value, and they're pretty heavily based around culture techs. Their units are also a bit different to work with compared to the TEC and Vasari.
9. The black market can be pretty useful - pay attention to it especially during a crash. Crash = best time to buy. You can also list your excess resources on the market if you want to earn some extra credits. I'd recommend listing on the market to other players over selling direct to the market, since you might be lucky if you get 100 on a direct sale compared to 300+ on a player sale.
10. As I said, practice makes perfect. You might have a hard time in some early games, but you'll eventually learn what everything is and how to turn things into your favor. The good news is, there's usually room for a comeback in most games, even if you start losing. Play smart.
