YC partners Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell discuss how spending real time with your users can unlock insights and growth. Hear the stories of how Airbnb and Brex built billion-dollar companies by forging genuine connections with customers. Learn why having too much money and too many people can actually slow down learning. And discover how to accelerate insight into your product by making your users feel special. Successful startups don’t just build technology – they solve human problems. The key is listening to the people who really matter: your customers. Apply to Y Combinator: Work at a Startup: Chapters (Powered by ) - 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - Having a Plan 01:15 - How to Learn 01:39 - Empathy for Users 03:01 - The Gold Mine 04:29 - You Can't Fake It 05:18 - Brex Pivot 06:47 - The Edge Cases 07:33 - Caring More Than 0 08:18 - It's Complicated 09:17 - Turing It Around 09:55 - Starcraft 10:23 - Asking What They What 12:49 - It's Easy to Not Care 13:20 - Caring = Learning 14:17 - Takeaways