There are so many game options -- and that's great! -- but are any of them considered the best way to get started?

You can start with the objective of grabbing 40 sectors and leaving the remaining 20 ones to the other overlords. Or you can play to conquer the whole city (that makes for very long games). I always felt that was the biggest goal.

Also you can go and assassinate the other overlords, but then you must be ready to hide and protect yours well. The game changes a lot when you do that.

You can play for money, or control, or the overlall best in all... All those options are fun. Playing for money over n turns makes you feel a bit like a Nucky Thompson, looking after your business ;)

I don't know that there is a standard. Like Carradice said, all the modes are fun in their own way.

I usually play 40 sector victory too. Total conquest is fine, but it ends up dragging on at the end because the AI often has one or two gangs with high stealth and you have to search for a long time to find them. They have to be killed before you can win even if you control all the sectors.

Other then that, I recommend finding a sector with both a hospital and a warehouse in it. You can heal your gangs and then re-equip them without moving them first, which will save you a lot of time.