so much about startups is counterintuitive. And when you tell someone something counterintuitive, what it sounds to them is wrong. So the reason founders don't listen to us is that they don't believe us. At least not till experience teaches them otherwise. [4]The reason startups are so counterintuitive is that they're so different from most people's other experiences. No one knows what it's like except those who've done it.

I recently told applicants to Y Combinator that the best advice I could give for getting in, per word, was Explain what you've learned from users.

Paul Graham