Building A Big Company: Non-Obvious Insights

In this episode of Dalton + Michael, the two discuss the risk a startup faces when: 1) it successfully made something people want but 2) the startup is at risk of hitting a "local maximum." To build a huge company a startup often needs to change direction/strategy *post* product-market fit. D+M discuss some examples of companies that executed on strategy changes post-PMF including Facebook and DoorDash. Dalton + Michael is brought to you by ‪@Standard_Cap Dalton Caldwell on X: https://x.com/daltonc Michael Seibel on X: https://x.com/mwseibel

Dalton CaldwellhostMichael Seibelhost

Jan 19, 202622mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: January 19, 2026
Duration: 22m
Channel: Dalton + Michael
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

In this episode of Dalton + Michael, the two discuss the risk a startup faces when: 1) it successfully made something people want but 2) the startup is at risk of hitting a "local maximum." To build a huge company a startup often needs to change direction/strategy *post* product-market fit. D+M discuss some examples of companies that executed on strategy changes post-PMF including Facebook and DoorDash. Dalton + Michael is brought to you by ‪@Standard_Cap Dalton Caldwell on X: https://x.com/daltonc Michael Seibel on X: https://x.com/mwseibel

SPEAKERS

Dalton Caldwell
host
Startup founder and investor; co-host of Dalton + Michael and longtime YC partner.
Michael Seibel
host
Entrepreneur and startup investor; YC partner and co-host of Dalton + Michael.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Dalton + Michael, featuring Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel, Building A Big Company: Non-Obvious Insights explores how founders scale beyond PMF with strategic, risky bets Pre–product-market fit (PMF) founders should ignore most strategy and focus on talking to users and building something people want.

RELATED EPISODES