Garry Tan: YC Wants User Call Transcripts

YC Partner Gustaf Alströmer stresses that founders must do the early, unscalable work of acquiring users themselves, rather than delegating sales. For B2B startups, this means creating a target list of 500 companies and recognizing it's a numbers game; a 50% email open rate might still only result in two customers. This hands-on approach provides invaluable market insights. Early adopters are often hiding in plain sight, using clumsy workarounds to solve the problem you're tackling. Seek them out in niche subreddits, Slack and Discord communities, and industry forums where they discuss their challenges. Before pitching, add value to these communities by answering questions and sharing insights to build trust. Cold outreach to potential users on platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter can be highly effective if personalized. Your goal isn't to sell, but to learn. Craft short, value-driven messages that show you've done your research on their specific challenges and ask for a brief chat to understand their world better. YC Partner Michael Seibel advises that your first ten customers should ideally come from your personal network—people who have directly experienced the problem you're solving. These initial users need to be "qualified" by their willingness to use an imperfect MVP and even pay for it, which is a strong signal of their need. Don't just listen to users, observe them. YC Group Partner Gustaf Alströmer recalls showing early Airbnb prototypes to people in coffee shops to get real-time reactions. The goal is to understand their pain points so deeply that you can build a solution they will eagerly adopt, even in its simplest form. Building a consistent pipeline of user conversations requires a systematic approach. YC Partner Dalton Caldwell emphasizes making it a daily habit to have at least one, and ideally multiple, conversations with potential users. This relentless pace of learning is crucial for avoiding the trap of building in a silo. Founders of successful companies like Airbnb and DoorDash initially did things that didn't scale, like meeting hosts in person and making deliveries themselves. This direct interaction is a goldmine for insights that can't be gathered through surveys. Embracing these manual, early efforts builds a deep empathy for your users. Ultimately, the fear of rejection is a major blocker for founders. YC partners Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell highlight that successful founders become comfortable with hearing "no." Every conversation, even a rejection, is a data point that refines your understanding of the market and brings you closer to a product people genuinely want.