Empathy isn't just about being nice or feeling sorry for someone - it's the ability to consciously step into someone else's shoes, see the world through their eyes and feel what they feel, without rushing to fix, judge or advise. It's deeper than emotion; it's perspective.

Founders who lack empathy often fail to truly understand what their users are experiencing. True product-market fit doesn't come from ticking off a need on a spreadsheet - people don't always act rationally. If they did, they'd eat healthy, budget wisely, exercise daily, and no one would ever buy an iPhone on credit.

Founders without empathy tend to impose their own logic on users: "I know what you need." It's the same energy as a well-meaning but overbearing parent. And let's face it - most of us have been on both sides of that dynamic.

And sure, these parents have a point. "Teenagers don't know what they want. They just want to waste time instead of doing something useful". Sounds familiar, right? But users aren't so different.

Yet some people manage to engage those same teens - whether it's through sports, TikTok, theatre, cars or even street culture. They just get them. They know how to engage, connect and inspire - not because they read it in a book, but because they feel it.

That's empathy. And it beats all the fancy theories of pedagogy or marketing.

So when's the last time you actually tried to feel what your users are feeling - instead of deciding what they should want?